Fullmetal Alchemist: Stories of Central
by Fallen Crest
Summary: A series of one shots centered around Mustang, his crew, Hughes and his crew, and Ed and Al. What goes on when the soldiers aren't on missions? What happens on certain missions? It's all in here.
1. Story 1: Brothers

_Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or Brothers by Vic Mignogna_

_A series of one shots centered around Mustang, his crew, Hughes and his crew, and Ed and Al. These might go out of order. So I will tell you Ed and Al's age somewhere in the story. And if I can't find a place in the story then I'll put it at the beginning of the chapter._

_I'm following the Brotherhood version where Ed became a state alchemist sometime that wasn't winter, since it was snowing or cold when he became a state alchemist. And I don't know the exact date when the boys did the human transmutation so I'm making up a date, so I don't wanna hear any complaints from you people._

**Fullmetal Alchemist: Stories of Central**

**Edward: 13**

**Alphonse: 12**

**One shot #1: Brothers**

In the ballroom, at the military headquarters that was used for parties the military held, Edward walked towards the piano that was in the corner of the room. He had just turned in his mission report and was feeling kind of down. The lead that he had gotten on the philosopher stone had been false. His automail arm had gotten destroyed again so he and Al had to make a side trip to Resembool to get it fix, making Ed and Al late in getting back to Central for his meeting causing Mustang to lecture him…..again. And now he was stuck in Central for a few weeks because his assessment was in a few weeks. Mustang wouldn't send him on another mission because then he would get distracted by something on his mission and come back late and miss his assessment. It was his first assessment since joining the military when he was twelve.

It's been three years since that night, that horrible night. The night where Edward lost his right arm and left leg and where Al lost his body. It's been three years and his little brother was still stuck in that suit of armor. His brother was stuck in that suit of armor and it was all his fault. He saw the warning signs. He knew it was forbidden. Yet, he still did it. And his brother, who didn't want to do it, lost the most, while all he lost was a leg and an arm.

Edward sat in front of the piano and ran his hands lightly over the keys. He took his red coat off so the sleeves wouldn't get in his way. He softly began to play a sad melody.

Al walked around Central headquarters looking for his brother, who walked away without him after his meeting with the Colonel. He looked sad about something and Al wanted to know why.

Sighing, Al went back to the Colonel's office to see if anyone knew where his brother was. When he got there, he saw all the men working, which was a rare sight. Then Al saw Hawkeye holding her gun and glaring at all the men. "Uh…Lieutenant, do you know where my brother is?"

Hawkeye frowned and shook her head. "Sorry Al, I don't. But do you know why Major Elric is sad today?"

"No, I…" Al froze in what he was saying when he saw the calendar on the wall. The date was August 18.

Havoc looked up from his work when he heard Al freeze. "Is something wrong, Al?"

"Today is the day." Al murmured.

Everyone looked at Al confused. "What is today?" Mustang asked as he came out of his office.

Al didn't answer them. He just turned and stared out the window.

A voice from the doorway stopped the team from asking Al any more questions. "Today is the day their mother died. And this day three years ago, Al almost died and Ed lost his arm and leg."[1]

"How do you know that?" Al asked sadly.

"I'm part of the investigation department, Al." Hughes said softly.

Al didn't reply but turned towards the door. "I'm going to go find brother."

"Go to the ballroom. I saw Major Elric heading towards there."

Al nodded his helmet head and left the room. He quickened his pace when he got out of the room. His brother always felt horrible on certain days of the year. Today and October 3rd were two of the worst days for him.

When he made it to the ballroom, he saw his brother sitting down at the piano. He was playing a soft, sad melody. As quietly as a suit of armor could, Al walked towards his brother as Ed began to sing softly.

_How can I repay you, brother mine?_

_How can I expect you to forgive?_

_Clinging to the past, I shed our blood._

_And shattered your chance to live._

Ed and Al sat in front of the transmutation circle with all the ingredients in the center of the circle. "Are you ready, Al?" Ed asked his brother.

Shyly and quietly, Al nodded his head as he was looking at his brother. "Are you sure about this, brother?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes. Don't chicken out on me now, Al." Ed replied.

Without another word, both boys put their hands on the transmutation circle.

_Though I knew the laws, I paid no heed._

_How can I return your wasted breath?_

_What I did not know has cost you dear,_

_For there is no cure for death._

"BROTHER!"

"It's a rebound!" Ed exclaimed, scared out of his mind. The arms coming out of the gate grabbed his left leg and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the hands grabbing Al's whole body.

Al was being pulled into the gate by the hands. "BROTHER! ED! HELP!" Al screamed as he reached out toward his older brother. Edward moved forward to grab his little brother's hand but fell down and grabbed his left leg, which was disappearing as the hands took it away.

When he looked up, Edward saw that his brother was gone and tears began to run down his face. His brother was gone. [2]

_Beautiful mother, soft and sweet,_

_Once you were gone, we were not complete._

_Back through the years we reached for you,_

_Alas 'twas not meant to be._

Edward screamed as he grabbed the stub he had left of his leg. He stayed laying on the ground as tears continued to steam down his face. "Mom!" He moaned in pain as he looked up and reached towards the creation in the center of the transmutation circle. When the smoke cleared from the transmutation, his eyes widened when he saw what was in the middle. Whatever that was, it wasn't his mother.

The young alchemist looked towards his right to see just his brother's clothes. "AL! NO! THIS ISN'T WHAT WE WANTED!"

_And how can I make amends?_

_For all that I took from you?_

_I led you with hopeless dreams,_

_My brother, I was a fool._

A suit of armor fell to the ground behind Ed and he crawled to it. He pulled the helmet off of it and sat up. After drawing a transmutation circle in it with blood, Ed threw his hands together. "Give him back. Give him back! He's my little brother! He's all I have left! Give him back! TAKE MY ARM! TAKE MY LEG! TAKE MY HEART! JUST GIVE HIM BACK!" Edward yelled as he slammed his hand onto the transmutation circle that he drew in his blood.

Edward continued playing the piano, but stopped singing. He was having an internal battle with himself. Tears were fighting their way out of his eyes, as he was trying to force himself from crying. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't cry. He didn't deserve to cry, not when his brother couldn't cry anymore. This was all his fault. He had caused his brother to lose his body.

The young alchemist closed his eyes and continued to play the soft, sad melody.

The state alchemist felt someone sit next to him and started playing with him, then the person started singing.

_Don't cry for the past now, brother mine._

_Neither you nor I are free from blame._

_Nothing can erase the things we did,_

_For the path we took was the same._

Al opened woke up and sat up. He shook his head and looked at his hands. "What is this?" Al muttered, then looked to his left when he heard someone moan. "BROTHER!" The little brother ran to his oldest brother's side. He saw that his brother was missing his left leg and right arm. His eyes were full of pain. "What happened to you? And me? What happened to me?"

"There wasn't much time. I used my right arm as material in a transmutation. All I could manage was to attach your spirit to the armor in the corner." Ed said.

"Oh no." Al said, scared and upset. "What about mom?"

_Beautiful mother, soft and sweet,_

_Once you were gone, we were not complete._

_Back through the years we reached for you,_

_Alas 'twas not meant to be._

Ed shook his head. "Don't look. It wasn't human."

Like everyone who was told not to look at something, Al looked towards the transmutation circle and grasped. "I don't understand, Ed. What happened? Your theorems and equations, there seemed so perfect."

"The theorems weren't the problem, Al. It wasn't the math. It was us." Edward said.

_My dreams made me blind and mute._

_I long to return to that time._

_I followed without a word,_

_My brother, the fault was mine._

Al wrapped up his brother's wounds the best he could and picked up Ed and ran to their friend's house, The Rockbells.

The door to the Rockbells' house opened and Al was on his knees, holding his brother to his chest. "Please, help him. He's going to bleed to death."

Winry and Pinako stand at the suit of armor and the injured Ed shocked. "Al?" Winry questioned. "Is that you?"

_So where do we go from here?_

_And how to forget and forgive?_

_What's gone is forever lost._

_Now all we can do is live._

"I'll become a state alchemist and I promise Al, I'll find a way to get you your body back." Edward promised as he sparred with his brother for the first time since he got his automail.

"And while we're at it, we'll get your limbs back to, brother." Al replied. "Brother, you aren't going to try to bring mom back, are you? We agreed it was a mistake."

Edward smiled a little. "Don't worry, Al. I know it was a mistake. The dead can never come back. And I will never do it again, because I don't want to…. I don't want to risk losing you again, Al."

"We're all we got, Al."

The two boys finished playing their song and looked at each other. "Brother?"

Without a word, Edward leaned his head against his brother's metal chest. He bit his lip to try to hold in his tears. "Brother, you're allowed to cry."

"No. I can't cry. How can I cry? I don't deserve to cry when you can't cry." Edward murmured.

"Then do it for me." Al replied. "Cry for me cause I can't do it."

Edward's shoulders started to shake as he finally let his tears out of his eyes. Al wrapped his arms around Edward's body.

Mustang, his crew, and Hughes and his crew watched the two boys with eyes for of pity. "Those two boys have been through too much in their lives. They are just kids. They don't deserve this." Hughes said.

"Fullmetal made this choice and he isn't going to quit until he accomplished his goal." Mustang replied. "All we can do is offer him as much help as we can give."

Twelve year old, Edward Elric glared at Mustang outside Central Headquarters. "Sure you want to do this kid?" Mustang asked.

"I'm not backing out. I will become a state alchemist and find a way to return my brother to his body." Edward replied determinedly.

**A/N: [1] Do not start. This is my story, so I do what I want. So I am making it that Ed and Al attempted human transmutation on the day that their mother died.**

**[2] I don't know if Ed cried in the show, but this is my story so he does here.  
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	2. Story 2: A Normal Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist

**Full Metal Alchemist: Stories of Central**

**Edward: 13**

**Alphonse: 12**

"Talking"

_Thought_

**One shot #2: A Normal Day**

A young boy clad in black leather pants, a black muscle shirt, a black jacket, a red coat with the Flamel in black on it, black boots, and white gloves was seen walking down the road with a big suit of armor following behind him. His blonde hair was tied in a braid and his golden eyes shined with irritation.

"Is something wrong, brother?" The suit of armor asked in a surprisingly soft tone.

The brother grunted and shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked back at his brother with narrowed eyes. "Al, I'll do this report alone, kay? Why don't you go to the library or explore the city. It's been a while since we've been here last."

"Yeah, three months." Al replied softly. "The Colonel is going to be really mad at you for not calling in once while we were gone."

Ed shrugged. "Just go look around. I'll see you later."

"Are you sure?" Al asked unsure.

Ed gave his brother a backward wave. "Yeah. We shouldn't both have to sit through this lecture. I'm the dog, not you, and it was my choice not to call anyway. You shouldn't have to deal with this. Just go enjoy yourself."

"Okay brother." Al said uneasily.

Ed gave his brother an easy grin before running ahead.

Al shook his helmet and turned to walk away when he heard a faint 'meow.'

Ed frowned when he stopped in front of Eastern Command. He kicked irritably at the ground before entering the military grounds. When he passed officers in the hallway, they gave him salutes which he just nodded at.

When he reached the outer office of Mustang's office, he stopped and took a deep breath.

Hawkeye looked up at Ed with narrowed eyes. "Major Elric, glad to see you are back."

"Hey First Lieutenant." Ed said, glancing at the door that led to Mustang's office. "Is he in?"

"Yeah, and he really pissed at you." Havoc replied around his cigarette.

"FULLMETAL!"

All those in Eastern Command looked around in surprise. They haven't heard any yelling since Major Elric left three months ago for his mission. All of them knew the kid was in trouble for not reporting in sooner.

Ed glowered at the office door. "So, I guess I'm supposed to go in."

"Yes sir." Hawkeye replied. "Good luck."

Ed sighed and entered the inner office quietly. He marched up to Mustang's desk like a man marching to his death and gave a lazy salute. It was best to act like a good soldier here. "Colonel."

Mustang stood up behind his desk and looked angrily at Ed. He slammed his hands on his desk. "Three months? I may have given you free range to search for the Philosopher stone after you do your missions, but that doesn't give you the right to go AWOL for three months without a single call. I could court-martial you for this. You better have a damn good excuse as to why you didn't call."

"I didn't see any point in calling you." Edward replied.

Mustang raised a brow. "Fullmetal, do you have any idea of how much trouble you would be in if a higher up found out you were AWOL for three months. Going AWOL is a serious offense."

"You said I could do what I want after my missions though." Ed argued.

"But you still have to call me and inform me of what you are going to do and when you will be back. I know you need to be in the military to fix your mistake, but no one else knows why you joined and might think you've gone AWOL." Mustang growled.

"I was busy." Ed argued.

"Too busy to make one simple call to tell me you would not be returning right away?" Mustang asked. "Maybe I give you too much freedom. I might just have to make you come back directly after you finish your mission and not let you search at all and if you don't return directly I will have to suspend you."

"You can't do that. I need to search." Ed yelled angrily.

"Then call, even if it's just once to tell me what you are doing." Mustang said. He sat back down at his desk and leveled his gaze with Ed. "I need a verbal report, Fullmetal."

Ed growled. He tossed his written report onto the desk. "I went to New Optain and found that recruit you wanted to take the State Alchemist Exam."

"And?"

"He's a paranoid insane bastard who hates the military. He's not coming." Ed replied annoyed.

Mustang raised a brow as he flipped through the report. "What did he do?"

"His house is in the middle of the forest and he has booby traps all around his house. So after trying to get passed all those damn things while almost getting killed, I might add," Ed sent his boss a very pissed off glare and started pacing in front of the desk. "Al and I made it to his front door and when he opens the damn thing he begins to panic because of Al."

"A giant suit of armor would cause someone to panic, but having a shrimp like you there should have calmed him down." Mustang said.

Ed stopped pacing and turned to Mustang, red in the face. "WHO THE HELL IS SO SHORT THAT HE NEEDS A LADDER TO REACH THE FIRST STEP OF A STAIRCASE?"

"Well, I didn't say that much, but I do mean you." Mustang replied easily.

Ed let out a frustrated scream and pulled at his hair. "BASTARD!"

"You should really learn to control that short temper of yours, Fullmetal." Mustang said calmly.

"WHO THE HELL IS SO SMALL THAT AN ANT BEATS HIM IN SIZE?" Ed screeched.

"Why that would be you, Fullmetal. I'm glad you are able to face the truth now." Mustang said idly, as he looked at his nails.

Ed screamed and slammed his head onto the desk.

After a few minutes of Ed continuously slamming his head into the desk, Mustang looked down at Ed. "Get up and continue your report."

Ed took a few calming breaths before standing up. He straightened his coat, then redid his braid. When he was done, he looked back at his boss. "When he saw us, he panicked and slammed the door in our faces, well, he tried to. Al blocked him and we pushed our way in. The bastard is one hell of an alchemist, but Al and I are better."

"Cocky much, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked with a smirk.

"Damn it! Stop interrupting! Do you want the report or not?" Ed yelled irritated as he began pacing again.

Mustang's smirk widened.

"Anyway, he didn't seem to be too willing to join. In fact, I think he got more violent when he learned I was a state alchemist and the Fullmetal Alchemist at that. I don't think he liked me very much." Ed muttered.

"Despite you being someone so small and not someone to be intimidated of, you sure seem to make a lot of enemies." Mustang replied.

"STOP CALLING ME SMALL!" Edward shouted.

"Oh, I thought you had finally accepted the fact that you are tiny. Oh well, you'll come around eventually." Mustang replied, turning his chair around to look out his office window in a bored manner.

Stream was practically coming out of Ed's ears.

"So, you and Al fought the alchemist?" Mustang asked.

Ed breathed deeply through his nose. "After he found out that I was a state alchemist and I was there to recruit him, he attacked. In the end, his house ended up getting destroyed and he was put in the hospital." When Mustang looked ready to lecture, Ed pressed forward. "Don't lecture me. He was the one who attacked me first. I was just defending myself."

"How injured did you get?" Mustang asked.

Ed frowned. "What makes you think..."

"It's you, Fullmetal." Mustang explained.

Ed growled at him. "The house collapsed on me because of that bastard. How injured do you think I got?" He snarled. "Broken arm and ribs, multiple bruises and cuts, internal bleeding, and a concussion."

"And where did you go after you got out of the hospital?" Mustang asked, staring at the ceiling now.

"We got a lead in New Optain about the Philosopher stone. After I got out of the hospital we went over to Akrai. Apparently there was a man there who could do alchemy without a circle and could do all type of alchemy. I went to meet him. He was said to be a protector of the city." Ed snorted. "He wasn't."

"Then what was he?" Mustang asked, spinning around in his chair so he was facing Edward again.

Ed sat on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "A corrupt ex-state alchemist."

Mustang sat up straight in his seat. "His name?"

"Richard Griffyn."

Mustang slammed a hand on his desk. "What happened to him?"

Ed frowned at Mustang. "What does he matter?"

"He's a rogue state alchemist, abandoning the state two years ago. He killed five state alchemists and ten soldiers. He's a traitor. We've been searching for him for two years, but he disappeared. Is he still in Akrai?" Mustang demanded.

Ed scratched his head. "Well, I met him and he saw my state alchemist watch. I think I should stop wearing it. It's just getting me in trouble."

Mustang's brow twitched in irritation.

"To make a long story short," Ed twitched at the word. "We got into a fight and he ran west, in the direction of Central, I believe." Ed explained.

Mustang picked up his phone and dialed a number. He tapped his finger impatiently on his desk while he waited. On the couch, Ed raised a brow, but shrugged.

"Hughes."

"Roy! What a surprise! You never call me!"

Mustang's brows knitted together in irritation.

"Did you call to hear more about my beautiful daughter?"

"No…"

"Of course you did. Why else would you call?"

"Hughes..."

"Elysia did the cutest thing the other day. She got this ball…"

"HUGHES!"

"...What? I'm trying to tell you a story."

"Fullmetal is here and he told me that the rogue state alchemist, Richard Griffyn, is heading to Central."

"Griffyn? He's been gone for four years? How did Ed find him?"

"It's not important. Just be ready. My team and I will be heading to Central soon to find him." Mustang slammed the phone down and stood up. "Get ready, Fullmetal."

Ed sighed. "I'm going to go find Al." He stood up and stretched his arms.

"Be back here in an hour with or without Al." Mustang ordered.

Ed sighed and left the office.

"Done already?" Hawkeye asked when he came out.

"We're leaving in an hour." Ed muttered as he left the office.

"What's going on?" Havoc asked. He stood up and saluted when Mustang came out of the office.

"We're going to Central. We leave in an hour." Mustang said.

Hawkeye stood up. "Sir, if I may, why?"

"Richard Griffyn. I won't let him get away this time." Mustang explained.

Ed ran down the sidewalk, towards the suit of armor. "HEY AL!"

Al looked around. "Yeah brother?"

"We're going to Central with Mustang and the others." Ed explained quickly as he began walking back to Eastern Command with Al.

"Why?" Al asked confused.

"I'll explain later." Ed replied. He stopped walking, however, when he heard a faint meow. He slowly turned his head to look at Al. "Do you have a cat?"

Al shook his head. "No, of course not, brother. You tell me not to pick up strays. Why would I have a cat?"

"Get rid of it, Alphonse. It'll only get hurt if you keep it with you right now." Edward growled. "We're heading to a fight."

Al meeped.

When they got on the train, Ed dragged his brother away from the officers so they didn't have to seat with them. Ed didn't think he could survive a train ride with Mustang and all his short jokes.

When they reached Central, they were met by Hughes, Armstrong, Maria Ross, and Denny Brosh.

"Yo Ed, Al! It's been a while. How are you two?" Hughes greeted enthusiastically.

"Hello Mr. Hughes." Al said.

Ed nodded his head at him.

"Elric brothers!" Armstrong swept the two boys into a bone crushing hug.

"ARGH!" Ed shouted, trying to push away from Armstrong. "Get...off!"

Mustang smirked at his subordinate's distress. "Hughes, do you got any leads on Richard Griffyn?"

"We got Intel that says he is already in the city, came in by foot. He knows he can't take public transportation because we would find him." Hughes explained. He looked at Ed thoughtfully as he fell to his knees, gasping and rubbing his abused chest. "I'm surprised he let you live after you met him. Didn't he think you would report him?"

Ed stood up and brushed himself off. He looked at his brother and they shared a silent conversation filled with hand gestures and shaking heads. In the end, Ed shrugged. "His specialty is manipulating the Earth, isn't it?"

"Yes." Hughes replied.

Ed nodded his head. "He didn't kill us because he wanted the military to know he is back."

"Wanted to?" Mustang shouted, earning stares from the civilians. He ignored them and slammed Ed into a wall. "What the hell is going on, Fullmetal?"

"Griffyn wants to destroy the military, especially the State Alchemists from Ishval. He wants them to know so they can fear him, so they will jump at every shadow. After all, those five state alchemists he killed, he killed them all in the same fight. He's one hell of an opponent." Ed muttered. "He's going to start by destroying Central."

"And you didn't think to maybe tell me this sooner?" Mustang growled.

"Well, you seemed kind of mad when I came in." Ed muttered.

Mustang growled. "We're going to Central Command. We need to inform the Fuhrer."

Ed looked at his brother and nodded his head. "Al and I need to talk so we're going to walk to the Central Command."

"Fine, just be careful with that psycho around." Mustang grunted.

The brothers left the train station.

Ed glanced back at his brother. "Do you remember Richard Griffyn, that alchemist we met before we came back here?"

"Yeah."

"He's a rogue state alchemist who killed military officers." Ed explained.

"Oh, and we let him go." Al said.

Ed stopped and held an arm out to stop him. "We didn't let him go. He escaped when the town went up in flames."

"Does the Colonel know that part?"

Ed grimaced. "We didn't get that far. He'll read about it in the report."

If Al could have, he would have given his brother a skeptical look. "Did you actually put that in the report?"

"Trust me, Al. That bastard would have found out somehow and would give me an even bigger lecture for not putting it in the report. I don't get why he wants to lecture me for that anyway. I'm not even the one who set it on fire. That rogue alchemist did." Ed ranted.

Al sighed. "Brother, you can't always blame everyone else."

"I don't." Ed snapped.

"Really?"

Ed fell silent.

"See you push the blame on everyone else."

"No, I don't."

"Then what do you blame yourself for?" Al argued.

Ed clenched his fists. "The Transmutation was my fault."

"Brother!" Al cried. He put a hand on Ed's shoulder. "You can't blame yourself for that. It was my fault. I knew it was a mistake. I should have stopped you."

Ed pushed Al's hand off his shoulder. He whipped around with fire in his eyes. "Don't you dare blame yourself, Alphonse Elric! I saw the signs. I knew it was wrong. I knew it wouldn't work. It was all my fault. I was the one who coaxed you into it. I shouldn't have made you do it with me. I lost you your body. It is my fault and no one else's."

"Brother, you can't carry the blame for this. I didn't stop you. I chose to help. We are both to blame." Al said.

"It is never your fault, Little brother." Ed snarled, whipping around and walking ahead again.

Al sighed and decided to drop it. His brother would never let him take the blame for the Human Transmutation. They have been having this argument about who the blame falls on since they did the Human Transmutation. They were both stubborn to a fault and always fought about the blame.

Ed stared determinedly ahead. He would not remember that night. Whenever he and his brother argued about the blame, he usually relived the night. He could not do that, not here. Not when there was that rogue alchemist running around. He needed to be completely focused.

Ed and Al froze in walking when they heard alchemy being activated nearby. Al jumped backwards and Ed jumped forward. They moved just in time because waves of spike came pouring out of the alley to where they were just standing.

The brothers looked at each other over the spikes. Each was thinking the same thing. Why did everything seem to happen to them? Was God that mad at them for trying to play God?

"Al, go to Central Command and get help." Ed hissed.

"Brother, I'm not going to leave you to fight him alone." Al protested.

Ed shook his head. "Al, we both know how powerful he is. The two of us can't take him alone."

"Which means that one of won't stand a chance." Al growled.

"We don't have time to discuss this. Al, go get help. You'll be able to get help faster than me. My automail keeps me from moving as fast as you. Go now! I won't be able to hold him off long." Ed said angrily.

Al nodded his head. "Okay brother. Good luck."

"Richard Griffyn! Is that you in the alley?" Ed yelled as he jumped over the spikes and entered the alley.

"Fullmetal Alchemist, you played your part as messenger well. Now, it's time you die!" Griffyn laughed insanely in the dark alleyway.

Ed clapped his hands and slammed them on the ground. A sword slowly came out of the ground as he stood up with his hand leading the sword up. "Come out and fight me, coward!"

Griffyn laughed madly again and stepped out of the shadows. "As you wish, foolish alchemist. Sending your brother away was a foolish move."

Ed twisted the sword in his hand. He had to be prepared to defend himself from any attack this guy threw at him. He had to survive until Al got back. He would not die here. Nothing would kill him until Al was back in his body.

Griffyn clapped his hands again, the circles tattooed on his hands glowed faintly, and he slammed them on the ground. He brought up a sword and pointed it at Ed. "Let's play."

Ed blinked at him. He brought his sword in front of him. This man was completely insane that's all there was to it.

"Colonel!" Al cried when he entered Headquarters and found Mustang, his crew, Hughes and his crew explaining the situation to the Fuhrer and a few higher ups.

"Al, where is Fullmetal? Did he decide to skip the briefing again?" Mustang snarled in annoyance.

"Sounds like something he would do, but no. Griffyn caught up to us..."

"Didn't I tell you two to be careful?" Mustang growled.

"and brother asked me to come here and get help while he distracted him." Al said frantically.

Havoc sighed. "You two are always running into trouble."

"It's a special skill of theirs." Mustang said dryly.

"Sounds like it could be annoying." Hughes said.

"Be happy you aren't Fullmetal's superior." Mustang replied.

"Excuse me? My brother is being killed as we speak!" Al shouted worriedly.

Ed blocked the sword coming towards his heart. When this man said he wanted to play, it must have been a joke. He was one hell of a fighter and was holding nothing back. Ed pushed the sword away and kicked Griffyn's hand upwards, sending the sword flying into the air. Ed thrust his sword forward, making the alchemist jumped away. Growling, Ed lifted his sword in the air and knocked the falling sword away so it wouldn't hit him without taking his eyes off Griffyn.

Griffyn slammed his hands on the ground again, forming another wave of spikes.

Swearing, Ed threw his sword like a spear at Griffyn. With his hands free, Ed clapped them and destroyed the wave of spikes. Griffyn dodged the sword and caught it, slicing his hand up, but he ignored it and turned the sword on Ed.

Ed transmuted his arm into a blade.

Griffyn grinned sadistically at him. "I haven't had a fight like this in a while."

Ed narrowed his eyes. He would not take his eyes off Griffyn. The minute he did, he knew he was dead. He watched as Griffyn transmuted the sword into four knives. Griffyn smirked and grabbed two knives in each of his hands. He threw all four at Ed at once. Ed's eyes widened. He tried to jump to the side to avoid them, but only managed to avoid two of them. The other two hit him in the shoulder and stomach.

"Damn."

Ed clapped his hands and slammed them on the ground to form a wall in front of him. He needed to buy time. He knew he couldn't win this fight on his own.

Ed bit his lip in pain when Griffyn destroyed the wall and pieces of it fell on him. He refused to scream out though. He would not ever yell in pain because his brother could not feel pain.

Blood. A drop of blood. Ed looked up through squinted eyes to see Griffyn standing over him. The cuts he had were dripping blood on him.

"You were never trying to win. You're just trying to buy time." Griffyn snarled, pointing the sword at him. Blood ran down the sword from the cuts on Griffyn's hand to the very tip of the sword and onto the rubbish.

Snarling angrily, Ed clapped his hands and slammed them on the rubbish. Spikes shot out at Griffyn, making him jump away, but not fast enough. One of the spikes stabbed him in the arm.

"You brat!" Griffyn snarled. He grabbed his arm in pain. "I'll kill you!"

Ed glared up at him, ready to clap again.

But he didn't need to.

SNAP!

Blazing fire swarmed down the alley, surrounding Griffyn.

Ed covered his face with his flesh arm as the fire attacked Griffyn, causing him to scream out in pain.

"Can't you stay out of trouble for one day, Fullmetal?"

Ed lowered his arm to glare up at Mustang. "No, that would go against my purpose in life."

"And what is your purpose?" Mustang asked.

"To mock Truth because I come close to death so many times, but he can never get me there fully." Edward replied with a grin, keeping his eyes off the burnt corpse.

"One of these days you are going to push someone too far." Mustang said.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Can you get me out?"

"Brother! Are you okay?" Al cried as he began to dig his brother out.

"Been better...ow!" Ed glared at his brother. "Be careful. I have a knife in my stomach."

"Sorry, brother!" Al replied.

"Maybe we should stop letting you go off on your own if this is what happens." Hughes said with a laugh.

Ed glared at him. "You are all jerks. I'm an injured kid and you are all just mocking me!"

"Fullmetal, you being hurt is nothing new to us." Mustang said. "Maybe if this rarely happen, we would be more worried."

Ed huffed. "Stupid jerks." **  
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	3. Story 3: Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist

**Full Metal Alchemist: Stories of Central**

**Edward: 14**

**Alphonse: 13**

"Talking"

_Thought_

**One shot #3: Fire**

Groaning, Ed hunched his shoulders as he stared resignedly at Central Command, muttering how his commanding officer was the biggest bastard in the world. Colonel Mustang was transferred to Central Command for a few weeks with his team because he had work to do in Central for the Fuhrer. Mustang didn't tell Ed this before he left for his next mission, so when he returned, on time for once, it was to an empty office. So after much asking around, he and Al found out that Mustang was in Central and Al made Ed take the next train to Central to meet up with him.

Next to Ed, Al sighed mentally. His brother and Colonel were always arguing and were in this constant war to piss the other off more. To be frank, it was getting quite annoying and Al was getting sick of having to restrain his brother from killing the Colonel, or anyone for that matter, for calling him short.

"Standing out here won't make this go any faster, brother." Al said.

Ed ran his flesh hand over his wet face to get the water out of his eyes. He looked up at the gray sky, rain splattering onto his face. He closed his eyes and let the rain run down his face.

"Brother, you really shouldn't be out in the rain this much. You could get sick." Al said in a parenting way.

"I like the rain. It's refreshing." Ed replied, opening his gold defying eyes.

Al shifted on his feet. "How is your automail?"

Ed rolled his right shoulder. "Stiff, sore, but that is normal with automail in the rain." He pulled out his silver pocket watch and checked the time. "I'm going to be late soon."

If he could have, Al would have sent his brother a really annoyed look. "Brother, the sooner you meet the Colonel, the sooner you can leave and we can follow the lead we got."

"Right you are, Al!" Ed stood up straight and put his watch back in his pocket. "If that bastard doesn't give me another mission. He always gets in the way of our leads."

"Stop stalling." Al scolded.

Ed sighed and entered the military grounds. He ran across the grounds with Al following him. He jumped into a big puddle nearby, splashing Al's legs and soaking himself even more. Despite being a state alchemist, he still had his kid spirit at times. When he was younger, he loved playing in the rain and still made a point of jumping in puddles when he could.

Al smiled the best a suit of armor could. He always enjoyed the moments when his brother acted like a kid. They didn't happen a lot anymore. Ever since mom died, Ed has taken up all the roles of an adult and rarely acted his age anymore. It saddened Al to see his brother acted older than he is. He blames himself because if it wasn't for the fact that he was stuck in a suit of armor, his brother wouldn't have to be in the military. If Ed knew these thoughts, he knew he would be in for a huge rant.

Ed stopped jumping in the puddles and turned to look at Al with eyes that made him look older than he is. They shined with more pain, intelligence, wisdom, and tiredness that didn't belong in a teenager's eyes. "What's wrong, Al? Come on, you're the one who wants me out of the rain." He said with an easy, fake smile that he perfected since his mom died.

"Coming brother." Al replied, running to catch up with his brother. When they were younger, Al knew when his brother's smiles were fake, but after years of Ed working on it, he could no longer tell the difference between the fake and real ones.

Inside, Ed shook his head like a dog. "I wonder where the Colonel would be stationed here."

"Ed? Al?"

The brothers looked around to see Major Hughes walking towards them. His hazel eyes were full of laughter and happiness, but with a deeply hidden pain from the Ishval Civil War. He smiled gently at them. "What are you doing here?"

Ed's earlier happiness from playing in the puddles faded and his eyes narrowed. "Why am I here? Why am I here?" He shouted, earning strange looks from the other officers around, but he ignored them. "Because my bastard of a commanding officer didn't tell me he was transferring here for a few f***ing weeks before I left for my damn mission and when I returned it was to a f***ing empty office! Then I had to waste my precious time figuring out where he and his team went so I could give him the damn report he always badgers me for! SO WHERE THE F***ING HELL IS HE?"

Hughes paused and stared in shock at Ed, while Al sighed at his brother's language. The other officers stared at Ed shocked. No kid should have that kind of language.

"You shouldn't swear, Ed." Hughes cleaned his glasses off with the hem of his shirt.

Ed glared at Hughes. "Where is Mustang?"

Hughes sighed. Ed ignored everyone when they were saying something he didn't care about. It was all about what he needed. "My office."

"Thanks." Ed said and started off down the hall with Al.

Sighing, Hughes put his glasses back on and followed them.

"Mr. Hughes, why is the colonel here?" Al asked curiously.

"Someone is setting houses on fire."

Ed scoffed. "That hardly seems like something you need Colonel Sparky for."

"Sparky?" Hughes laughed. "You better hope Roy never hears that name." He stifled his laughs and became serious. "No, Roy was called out because there is a trace of alchemy in these fires."

"Is someone using Flame Alchemy on them?" Ed asked, interest peaked.

"That's what we thought it might be, but it isn't possible." Hughes explained.

Ed stopped walking and turned to look at Hughes confused. "Why?"

"Flame Alchemy was created by Berthold Hawkeye….."

Ed stared at Hughes. "Hawkeye's dad?"

Hughes nodded his head. "Yeah, he created it and Roy got the secrets to it after he died. Only Roy and Hawkeye know the secrets to Flame Alchemy."

Ed nodded his head and started walking backwards so he could keep his eyes on Hughes. "If it isn't Flame Alchemy, then what is it?" Being a scientist Ed had a natural sense of curiosity and needed to know everything about everything.

"We're not entirely sure yet." Hughes replied.

"Well, you don't have to worry about a fire tonight, not with this storm going on." Ed replied, shaking his arm to make water fly everywhere to prove his point of a storm going on.

Hughes frowned and shook his head. "No, that's what wrong with this fire. It can last through the water."

Ed carefully hid his surprise and wore a blank look. "Really? Is this why you think he is using alchemy?"

Hughes nodded his head.

"Even Flame Alchemy can't last through water." Ed frowned.

Hughes reached out and grabbed Ed's arm to pull him to the side so he wouldn't run into a passing-by officer.

Ed didn't notice Hughes pulling him to the side. "I have never heard of any alchemy like that."

Al smacked his helmet. Now his brother was interested in this case because of the alchemy, which meant he was going to want to stick around Central to work on the case, which meant their lead on the Philosopher stone would be put on hold again. Whenever his brother got curious about something, he forgets about everything else.

"You've got brother curious." Al told Hughes as Ed fell into thought.

"Then I did my job." Hughes sighed.

"What do you mean?" Al demanded.

Hughes looked back at Al sadly. "Roy asked me to get Ed curious about this case so he would join us on it without a fight because we need his vast amount of alchemical knowledge and skill to help with this."

Al sighed. "So the Colonel was too lazy to want to argue with brother today?"

"That seems about right." Hughes replied with a grin.

Which is how Al found himself outside in the rain with his brother, Mustang and his crew, Hughes and his crew, and various other officers with a burning house in front of them.

"How exactly do you put this fire out?" Ed yelled over the storm.

"We haven't found a way yet. For now, the fire puts itself out when the building is completely destroyed." Hughes explained loudly.

Ed nodded his head and looked back at the building. His golden eyes narrowed in thought and he took a few steps closer to the building. The hairs on the back of his neck were sticking up, despite the rain. He could almost feel the alchemy in the air from the fire.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Al asked worriedly.

Ed ignored his brother and stared deeply into the fire. This fire was made by alchemy, but according to Hughes, it wasn't Flame Alchemy.

Black, lifeless eyes.

Ed reeled back a little when he saw the eyes in the fire. Why were there eyes in the fire? Ed didn't know the answer, but he was going to figure it out.

Reckless, he knew it was, but you can't get anywhere in life without a little daring.

"FULLMETAL, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" He heard Mustang yell behind him before he jumped into the flaming house.

Al stared at the spot where his brother jumped into the house. He wanted to follow his brother, but knew it wasn't safe for him to get his brother out of the house. He could burn his brother badly because metal conducts heat.

Automail.

If he had a body, Al knew he would hyperventilating right about now. His brother has two automail limbs and he just jumped into a burning building. He could get severely burned.

"That kid is insane." Havoc growled, looking ready to jump into the fire himself to pull the kid he considered a little brother out of the fire.

"Stay where you are, Second Lieutenant." Mustang snapped at him. He looked beyond pissed right now, so no one moved from where they were standing. Mustang looked back at the building, glaring at it, as he thought about what to do.

Ed coughed when he entered the building. There was too much smoke in here. He waved the smoke away and began looking around for the eyes he saw. He wasn't too worried about the fire, not with how soaked he is, but he couldn't stay in here long. The fire was cutting off his oxygen supply and would start burning him as soon as all the water on him evaporated from the heat.

Ed moved around the house, covering his nose and mouth with the sleeve of his coat on his flesh arm. He would not use his automail arm in this heat.

Squeak.

Ed looked down at the floorboard he stepped on just before the stairs. It was a loose board. Shrugging, he began walking up the stairs, carefully so he wouldn't fall through them. The structure to the building was already going down.

"Where are those stupid eyes?" Ed said annoyed. He started coughing violently again. Those stupid eyes were going to get him killed. Why did he let his curiosity get perked over a pair of eyes? It was probably just a trick of the eyes.

Squeak.

Ed froze when he heard the sound of someone walking around on a loose floorboard. He turned around on the stairs and looked down them to see a boy who looked a few years older than him at the bottom. His eyes were black, cold, and lifeless. They were the eyes he saw that made him enter the house. The boy had long black hair tied in a ponytail. He was wearing a military uniform, but Ed knew for a fact that he wasn't part of the Amestrian military. He may not wear the military uniform, but he looked at comrades uniforms enough times to know the difference between the Amestrian uniform and an enemy's military uniform.

"Who are you?" Ed asked carefully, coughing violently as he spoke from the smoke he inhaled.

The teenager crossed his wrists in front of him to show transmutation circles carved into the back of his hands.

Ed noticed that one of them looked like the one on Mustang's glove with a few alterations, but the other one was an array used to mess with time.

"You're the Fullmetal Alchemist!" The teenager said with a sneer.

"I thought you were from Drachma. That's what the uniform is saying anywhere." Ed said confused, but didn't let his guard down for one minute.

"I am. You're even known there." The teenager snarled.

Ed looked around the house for something to transmute. He couldn't transmute his arm without burning himself even more than what his arm was already doing to his shoulder. There was nothing to transmute though. The house was going down; everything was on fire and destroyed.

"Why did you set this house on fire?"

"Your military is weak."

Ed snarled at him and jumped off the stairs. He swore to himself when his coat caught fire. He whipped it off and threw it on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye Ed saw a transmutation array on the ground. "You're manipulating the fire in here so it doesn't hurt you so you can move around freely in here. You also used that time array so that the fire would put itself out after the building was completely destroyed. And that array on the ground is used to keep the fire going no matter what so water can't put it out. What I don't get is why?"

"And you never will." The teenager whispered.

"We'll see." Screwing the pain he was going to put himself in, Ed clapped his hands and slammed his flesh hand onto his automail arm. He hissed in pain from the hot metal, but otherwise ignored it. The outer plate of his automail formed into a sharp blade.

The teenager sneered at him.

"The house is going down." Al said frantically.

"Damn it." Mustang swore. He sent Al a reassuring smile before jumping into the burning house.

"COLONEL!" Hawkeye yelled after him.

"You are all insane." Hughes said with a tone of worry and horror.

Al frantically kept switching which leg carried all the armor's weight as he watched the house.

"FULLMETAL!" Mustang yelled, one arm over his eyes to give himself some shade to see ahead. He squinted ahead to see two bodies lying on the ground. "Fullmetal?"

Mustang lowered his arm and stared at the bodies. He ran over to them. The first one was a Drachma teenager, lying in a pool of his own blood. Fire rolled over his body, burning him to a crisp. Mustang noticed the transmutation circles that were on the kid's hands before a beam from the house structure fell and blocked the teenager from Mustang. He turned away from the teenager and looked at Ed, whose clothes were on fire.

"Fullmetal!" Mustang kneeled next to the kid. He whipped his military jacket off and threw it over Ed. He patted it down in each spot where he was on fire. Each spot was red with blisters and the clothes around the spots were singed. Most of the layers of his skin looked burned away. "Elric? You're alive, right?" He carefully turned Ed onto his back, wincing when he touched Ed's automail. Ed's front didn't look much better. His face and chest were covered in burns. "Fullmetal?"

Mustang hit Ed against the chest, causing Ed to cough, which made Mustang sigh in relief. "What the hell were you thinking, kid?"

Ed groaned and cracked his eyes opened. "M-mus…t-tang?" He asked in a raspy voice.

"You and I are going to have a long talk later, Fullmetal." Mustang snarled. He wrapped his burnt jacket around Ed and picked him up bridal style, hiding his wince of pain from the hot automail.

"S-solved…c-case." Ed muttered.

Mustang glared down at Ed. "Don't waste your strength with talking."

Mustang looked around the house. How were they supposed to get out? He heard a creak above him and looked up to see another beam falling. He jumped to the side, kneeled down, and covered Ed's body. Hissing in pain from pressing Ed's automail to his body, Mustang looked back to see the beam on the ground.

"M-mus…tang?"

"Didn't I tell you to be quiet?" Mustang growled, still looking around the house.

Ed pushed away from Mustang and tumbled to the floor. "I'm burning you."

Mustang grabbed Ed's flesh arm. "That doesn't matter right now. I'm getting you out of here."

"Not possible for you to get out with me." Ed muttered weakly.

"Fullmetal, when have we ever not done the impossible?" Mustang asked.

Ed grunted. He pushed himself up, wincing in pain from his burned leg.

Mustang stood up and threw his jacket back over Ed's shoulder. "You're too stubborn for your own good." He threw an arm over Ed's shoulder, ignoring the hot metal, to help keep the boy steady.

"Do you know where a window is?" Ed asked.

"I can't see anything in this fire." Mustang growled.

Ed glanced at the stairs. "Let's go up."

Mustang stared at Ed like he was crazy for suggesting such a thing, but it was Ed. His crazy plans almost always worked. "Be careful, Fullmetal. The stairs aren't stable."

Ed stumbled walking up the stairs, but Mustang caught him before he could hit the floor. He pulled him up and guided Ed up the rest of the stairs. Before they could reached the top, the staircase shook, causing Mustang to grab the railing in shock, burning his hand. He swore and shook his hand in pain. The two hurried up the rest of the stairs.

At the top, Mustang led Ed to the nearest bedroom. In the bedroom, they made it passed the fire and to the window, where they jumped out. Mustang, from his years of military training, landed on one knee, while Ed, who was injured, landed on his knees, hissing in pain. Mustang didn't give Ed the chance to recuperate from the jump. He grabbed the young alchemist's arm, making him be half-walking and half-dragged across the backyard yawn, away from the collapsing house.

"Mustang, let go." Ed hissed in pain. Mustang was holding his burned arm.

Mustang ignored his subordinate and continued dragging them until they were a safe distance from the house. They turned around to watch the house fall to the ground. It continued to burn until the house was all ashes.

Ed hissed in pain from the rain hitting all his burns, but decided to ignore that. "What happened to the people who own this house? Did they escape it?"

"The parents and their youngest child did. The oldest wasn't home." Mustang explained. "Who was that on the ground inside? The Drachma kid?"

"The person who set the house on fire. He used three different transmutations to make the fire, to make it so you can't put it out, and so that it will put itself out after the house is ashes." Ed explained through clenched teeth.

"And you killed him?" Mustang said shocked.

Ed glared at Mustang. "No, I'm not a murderer. I did hit him with my blade, but there was a moment in there where there was an explosion of fire. It knocked us both out. Did the fire kill him?"

"He was still alive when I came in, but he was on fire and a beam fell on him, so I think that would kill him." Mustang replied. He pulled Ed's arm. "Come on. We need to get back to the front so no one worries."

Almost subconsciously, Ed tightened the military jacket around himself to block out the cold rain so it wouldn't hit his burns anymore.

"Brother!"

"Colonel!"

Riza nodded at the colonel when she saw he was alright, then turned to Ed. She brought the end of her gun down onto Ed's head. "Don't do something that stupid again, sir."

Ed groaned and collapsed to his knees, rubbing his head. "First it's wrenches and now it's guns."

"It's what you get for being an idiot, brother!" Al screamed.

"I solved the stupid case." Ed muttered.

"And for that, you get to write the report for this." Mustang said cheerfully at the thought of less paperwork for him.

Ed groaned.

Riza sighed and decided to take pity on him. "Sir, let's get you to a hospital."

"NOT A HOSPITAL!" Ed yelled as he was dragged to a car by Riza.

Al laughed and followed the two.

**A/N: I really don't know what the point of this one was.**


	4. Story 4: October 3rd

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist

**Full Metal Alchemist: Stories of Central**

**In order throughout the chapter:**

**Edward: 13, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13**

**Alphonse: 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12**

"Talking"

_Thought_

**One shot #4: October 3rd**

Sitting on a windowsill, Edward stared out the window watching the rain hit the window with distant gold eyes that showed he was in deep thought and not really noticing the rain outside the window. His arms were wrapped around his chest, gripping the other tightly. One was made of flesh and the other was made of metal.

Behind the young boy in the office were five officers. Master Sergeant Kain Fuery was tinkering with a radio, being an expert with communication and surveillance equipments. Warrant Officer Vato Falman, an intelligence expert, was filing documents. Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc, a very loyal and hard-working officer, and Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda, a strategic expert, were at their desks going through reports and handing them off to Falman when they were done so he could file them. First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, a weapons specialist, was standing over the officers with a gun in hand to make sure the officers did their work.

In the inner office was Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist with an ambition to be Fuhrer to fix the country, who was supposedly doing paperwork. Most people expected him to put his work off by sleeping or teasing his subordinates because he hated paperwork. Those people would be correct, but today Mustang had a date and needed to get his paperwork done or Hawkeye wouldn't let him leave for his date. It was almost like Hawkeye was the superior in this office.

Major Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, was the youngest and newest addition to this team. He joined a little less than a year ago and worked mostly in the field. Usually when he came to the office there was a big suit of armor with him which was his little brother, Alphonse Elric. Today, Edward came into the office alone even though he wasn't supposed to be in the office today. It was his day off. When asked why he came in, he didn't reply. He just sat on the windowsill and stared out the window. That was two hours ago and he hasn't moved an inch since he arrived.

Edward pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and rested his head on top of his flesh leg, still staring out the window. His sudden movement made the officers look at him for the briefest second before they went back to work. They knew that he wanted to be left alone and knew it was best to give the temperamental teenager what he wanted.

*Flashback*

Two young boys, both with short golden-blond hair and eyes, stared into their father's study. Their father, a big man with long golden-blonde hair in a ponytail and gold eyes, sat at his desk, studying.

The taller of the two pushed the door open the rest of the way.

"Brother?" The smallest asked.

"Come on, Al." Edward said, pulling his little brother into the study with him.

Hohenheim looked down at the two boys who were pulling on his pants. He smiled at them, picked them up and dropped them onto his legs. "What are you two doing in here?"

"Mommy told us to come get you to go to the park with us for a picnic." Ed explained with perfect speech. Despite only being four, he was very smart and could already read and figure out big words on his own. His reading skills being so development made him become good at speaking at such a young age.

Hohenheim smiled at his sons, but there was a hidden sadness in his eyes. Why was he sad?

Ed stood on his dad's legs to look at the book his dad was reading. "What were you doing?"

"I was studying." Hohenheim explained.

Ed looked down at the book. "Al…che…my?"

"Now put it all together."

"Alchemy." Ed said proudly.

Al pulled himself up and stood wobbly next to his brother to look at the book. "What that?"

"Alchemy is the process of comprehending, deconstructing, and reconstructing." Hohenheim explained, then felt rather foolish saying something that complicated to two little boys.

Edward looked up at his father with wide, processing eyes. To comprehend was to understand, he knew that. Construct was to build something, but with the de- in front of it, did it mean to build down?...No, that didn't seem right. To build down….so destroy, right? Deconstruct was to break something down. So that meant that reconstruct was to rebuild it, right? So, alchemy was to understand, destroy, then build back up.

"I understand!" Ed said proudly.

Al tugged on his brother's sleeve. "Ex….plain?"

"To comprehend is to understand the material you want to destroy. Then you deconstruct it, which means destroy the material you have, then lastly you reconstruct it to make something new." Ed explained to his little brother with gentle eyes and smile. He really did love his little brother.

"That's correct." Hohenheim replied, ruffling his son's hair.

Ed smiled brightly at his father. He loved being right because it meant he got a smile from his father, someone he loved more than anything. His father would always be there for him and for that he was extremely happy.

"That cool. Can we learn?" Al asked.

Hohenheim ruffled Al's hair. "Not yet. When you are older."

Ed and Al pouted.

A few days later, Al woke his brother up so he could take him to the bathroom. Ed sighed in annoyance, but got up and took his brother's hand to lead him to the bathroom. They made it to the front of the house where the two brothers stopped and became fully awake. Their father was standing at the door with a suitcase and their mother was standing next to him, teary eyed. They both turned to look at Ed and Al confused.

"What are you two doing up so early?" Trisha asked with a voice full of love, but sadness.

"Al had to go to potty." Ed replied as he rubbed his eyes full of sleep, trying to wake himself up so he could figure out what was going on.

"Oh, Ed, you are such a great big brother taking care of your little brother." Trisha said happily, smiling at her sons.

Ed didn't reply, which was unusual for him. He always loved being praised by his parents. He and Al were looking at their father so he couldn't take the praise. Hohenheim looked away from his sons, neither son noticing the tears rolling down his face. He walked out of the house without a single word to his sons.

A few months later, Ed and Al rediscovered Alchemy and started teaching themselves it. When their mother found out, she praised them greatly and they became obsessed with the science that made them feel like magic. They didn't get a long time to continue making their mom happy with their alchemy because a few months later an epidemic hit them and their mother got sick. She didn't last long and soon died.

The grief stricken boys, who lost both their parents within a year, decided to bring their mother back through Human Transmutation, the biggest taboo of Alchemy. For two years they studied and learned as much Alchemy as they could through the books their father left in his study. After two years, Izumi Curtis, an alchemist, and her husband, Sig, came through Resembool. Ed and Al begged her to teach them alchemy and she eventually caved, taking in the two orphans.

Izumi took them back to Dublith with her. There, she left them on Yock Island, which was in the middle of Kauroy Lake. She left them there for thirty days to survive with no Alchemy. They only got a hunting knife to survive with and had to figure out the Alchemical concept All is One, One is All or she would not teach them.

Once passing the preliminary test, the two brothers trained under Izumi for five more months before going back home to Resembool where they would continue their independent study. When Ed was eleven and Al was ten, they felt ready to bring their mother back through Human Transmutation.

This was the biggest mistake they have ever made.

In the transmutation, Al lost his entire body, it being taken into the gate, and Edward lost his left leg. Desperate to save the only family he has left, Ed bounded his brother's soul to a suit of armor, using his right arm as material in the transmutation.

Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang showed up a few days later with his faithful subordinate, Riza Hawkeye. He found out about the Elric brothers' Human Transmutation when he went to their house. When he found them he offered Edward the chance to become a State Alchemist so the boys could have a chance to find a way to fix their bodies.

To be able to become a state alchemist and fix his brother, Edward got automail limbs.

Once he passed the test and got his state certification, Edward returned to Resembool to get his brother so they could travel together. Before they left, they burned down their house so they could never turn back. That day was October 3rd. Later that day while they were on the train, Edward took his state alchemist watch out. He transmuted his automail finger into small knife and carved 'Don't forget Oct. 3, 11' in his watch. He alchemically locked his pocket watch shut.

He and Al would find a way to fix their bodies, even if the path there is through a river of mud. They would never quit until they had atoned for their mistake.

*End Flashback*

Ed turned his head to look at the calendar on the wall in the officer. The day was October third. This was a hard day for him and his brother and they spent it alone. They were reminded of their mistakes on this day. Ed needed time away from his brother as he thought about his mistakes on this day…..and his father. When he was younger, he did love his father, but then his bastard of a father abandoned them. He couldn't forgive his father for leaving them, not after the promises he made them.

The inner office doors opened and Mustang stepped into the outer office. His eyes quickly looked over the office, stopping in surprise on Edward. "Fullmetal, what are you doing here?"

"Sitting." Edward replied in a distant voice.

Mustang looked at the calendar that he saw his subordinate looking at, then at the clock. He only had an hour for lunch. "Come with me, Fullmetal."

Edward looked up at his boss. "Why?"

"Just come." Mustang grabbed a pair of keys from Hawkeye's desk and left the office.

Edward looked at the first lieutenant in confusion.

Hawkeye smiled. "You should probably go. He can be really impatient."

Edward looked out the window at the rain. Grumbling, he got up and followed his boss outside to a military car. He stood next to the car and crossed his arms, glaring at Mustang. "Why are we out here?"

"Get in the car." Mustang said.

Ed looked at the car, then at the keys in Mustang's hand, and shook his head. "Like hell I'll trust you with driving."

Mustang rolled his eyes. He opened the passenger's door, grabbed Ed's arm, and forced him into the car. He slammed the door shut and rubbed his eyes in an aggravated manner. Once he was in the car, he locked the doors and turned the car on.

"Where are we going?" Edward asked as the man drove off of military ground.

"To lunch." Mustang replied.

Edward raised a brow. "And you're dragging me along, why?"

"Thought you would like to get out of the office. Why were you even there today?" Mustang asked, keeping his eyes focused on the road, trying to see through the rain. "You hate the military and want to spend as little time at Headquarters as possible which is one of the reasons why you take so many missions."

"It's really none of your business why I was there." Edward snarled. "Stop the car."

Mustang looked at his subordinate. "Why?"

"I don't want to be with you. Let me out." Edward growled.

"No." Mustang replied. "I think you need to talk to someone."

"You wouldn't even be on my list of people to talk to." Edward said angrily. He crossed his arms and stared stubbornly out the window.

"Some people think stubbornness is a bad trait, but in actuality, it's a great trait to have." Mustang said off topic.

Despite not wanting to talk to someone he thinks is a bastard, he turned his eyes back to his boss. "Why is it a good trait to have, bastard?"

"It means that you will never give up. You'll fight to the end because you're too stubborn to die. Stubbornness keeps you alive in the end, especially in a war. It's a helpful trait to have." Mustang explained, looking back at the road. "It's what kept me alive and going in the Ishval Massacre. I would not let myself die there. I won't die until I've reach my dreams."

Edward looked back out the window as the car came to a stop in front of a traffic light. "I….what is your dream that keeps you going?"

As the light turned green, Mustang started moving again. "It's…"

A flash of bright light, a ringing bang that sounded like a gun being fired, and screaming made Mustang stop talking. The car was slammed in the passenger's side and forced to skid to the left with the other car following. Being forced to the left caused the cars to spin a little and slam into another car, which sandwiched the military car between the two cars. Mustang was jerked forward, slamming his head into the steering wheel, which caused him to black out and miss the rest of the actions that happened.

"I'll work to the top and protect all those below me." Mustang said, looking up at the Fuhrer with power hungry eyes.

Maes clapped Mustang on the shoulder. "I'll help you there, but you have to be careful. Some might think this is treason."

Mustang groaned and opened his eyes. He immediately wished he hadn't. Everything was spinning and making his headache worse. He felt extremely lightheaded too. "What happened?" He asked himself, not expecting a response.

"A car hit us." A weak voice replied. "Be careful. I think you might have a concussion and you're bleeding a lot."

"Fullmetal?" Mustang asked. He turned his head to the right to see a very pale and blood covered Fullmetal. As soon as he turned his head, he wished he hadn't. The pain came rushing to his brain so fast. His whole body hurt. It felt like the pain was going to kill him.

"Your body slammed forward and you hit your head on the steering wheel." Edward explained. He was smashed between his door and Mustang. The car was obviously smooched between the two other cars.

Mustang looked down at himself to see what was causing his pain. Besides the concussion Fullmetal thought he had, he thinks he had a few broken ribs; his left arm was hurting a lot so it was probably broken as well, but the real cause of his pain was on his chest. He was covered in deep gashes, which were full of glass and his left side was probably bruised greatly from slamming into the second car.

He looked back up at his subordinate, who was watching him with tired eyes. "Report, Fullmetal."

Ed's eyes flashed in irritation. "Report? Report of what? We were in a car crash." He tried to yell, but his voice was raspy and he couldn't raise it to more than a whisper.

"I'm not asking about the damn crash." Mustang snapped. "Report your injuries now. All of them, no matter how small you think they are."

"I think my side is bruised from being hit by that car. Why did he hit us?" Edward said weakly.

"He might not have had time to stop or he didn't see the traffic light in the rain." Mustang replied. "Now finish your report."

"Broken ribs, possibly, my arm is broken too I think, my automail arm is also messed up." Edward stopped talking to catch his breath. He tried to move, but stop as pain flashed through his body. "I….can't…m-move. I'm…..stuck."

"First, finish your report, Fullmetal." Mustang ordered.

"My automail leg is messed up to and my real leg hurts a lot too."

"Explain the blood."

"My chest is cut from the glass that flew everywhere when we were hit. I think there is glass in me." Edward explained, breathing heavily.

"There is no way all that blood came from a few cuts. What else is wrong?" Mustang demanded, taking a few deep breaths himself.

Edward didn't reply.

"Tell me now, Fullmetal." Mustang growled. His own voice was weakening as well.

"I might have a severe concussion. My head is bleeding a lot."

"Fullmetal," Mustang warned.

"I slammed my head on the dashboard and I passed out for a few minutes, I feel very lightheaded, have a massive headache, everything is dizzy, and I feel nauseated." Edward explained.

"Why are you bleeding so much?" Mustang demanded.

Edward leaned his head back as best his could, eyes sliding shut a little. "Something….impaled me."

"Damn it, Fullmetal." Mustang snarled. He wasn't mad at his subordinate. None of this was his fault. He was just worried and was hiding it under his anger.

"Not…..*breath*…..my…..*breath*….fault." Ed closed his eyes.

Mustang breathed deeply and used his uninjured arm to hit Ed's shoulder. "Open your eyes and talk to me. No sleeping."

Edward opened his eyes and glared at Mustang with tired, pain filled eyes. "I'm tired."

"I know, but you might die if you sleep. Stay awake until help gets us out of here." Mustang replied. "How long ago was the wreck?"

"About ten minutes. I don't think help is here yet." Edward said. "So, you…..never got…a chance….What is…..your….dream?"

Mustang smirked, despite his weak state. "You have…..to figure…that out for…yourself."

"You're…..not go…ing….to tell…me?"

"No. It's…..something you have…..to discover…..for yourself." Mustang rasped.

Edward closed his eyes and his breathing slowed down. His head slumped forward.

"Damn it, Fullmetal, wake up." Mustang hit Edward's shoulder again. "Tell me, today is the day that you and your brother burned you house down last year?"

"How'd you know about that?" Edward demanded, momentarily forgetting about his injuries and tiredness.

"We are the military, Fullmetal." Mustang replied.

Edward glared at him. "Stay out of my life, you bastard."

"Why did you come to the military today?" Mustang asked.

Edward glared at him and refused to answer.

"Come on, Fullmetal. It can't be anything bad. I received no phone calls about you recently, which is amazing by the way. I usually get a call about you at least ten times a week." Mustang said.

Edward took a painful gasped of air. "My brother and I needed to be alone today. We were each reliving our mistakes today and couldn't…..no, I couldn't be around Al today. It was too painful….Al is so much like our mother. I love him, I really do, but he reminds me so much of mother. It makes so much sense."

"What does?"

"Al is so much like mom and looks like her. And me? I look like my bastard of a father and I am just like him, a bastard! He hurt me, Al, and mother by leaving us. And me? I hurt Al and mom. I transmuted my mother and when she was dying, I didn't fulfill her last two wishes. She asked me to transmute her a ring of flowers because she loved them because that bastard always made them for her and I didn't make them for, not even at her funeral. And…..and she asked me to protect Al! I didn't protect him!...No, I made him transmute mom with me and he lost his body. I'm a horrible older brother."

"Fullmetal…..Fullmetal…..Elric!" Mustang looked at Ed shocked when he saw the tears flowing down Ed's face. He knew now was not the time to tease his subordinate. Not in his state. "Elric, calm down now. You need to calm down before you make your condition worse."

"I didn't do my job. I didn't fulfill my mom's wishes. She probably hates me. I'm such a bastard. I'm so much like him. I hate him. Ever since he abandoned us, I've hated him." Edward said, ignoring Mustang. He probably even forgot that Mustang was there. "He hates me. My mom hates me for not fulfilling her wishes. And Al! Al, he has every reason to hate me. And I can't blame him. I would hate me to. He hates me. He hates me. He hates me. He hates me. He hates me. I lost Al his body. He hates me. HE HATES ME!"

"Edward!" Mustang raised his voice as loud as he could. The use of his first name was what made Edward shut up and look at Mustang. "Your brother does not hate you. He knows you are doing everything you can to fix your mistake. He doesn't hate you. How could he? You joined the military at twelve years old to fix that mistake. Your mother doesn't hate your either. All children make mistakes and parents can forgive that. Your mother forgave you and still loves you and your brother. And you aren't a bastard. You're a great brother and you are fulfilling your mother's wish. You are doing all you can to protect Al and get his body back. You aren't a bastard. Now calm down, damn it."

Ed gave a shaky, hollow laugh. "My parents weren't married when I was born. They didn't get married until after I was born, so I am a bastard."

"In those terms, yes. But in the terms you were using, you are not a bastard. What about Al?"

"They got married a few months after I was born." Edward replied. "So, you didn't research that far into my past?"

Mustang gave a shaky laugh. "I just wanted to know a few basic things about my newest and youngest subordinate, not your whole history."

Edward closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. "Are we going to die?"

"No. I'm sure help is here by now." Mustang replied.

The officers fell quiet, enabling them to hear the rain hitting the roof of the car. Mustang kept his eyes trained on his subordinate. He watched his chest rise and fall to know that he was still breathing. He watched how Ed's eyes fluttered open then closed every once and a while. He noticed that Ed stopped crying, but since he couldn't move he couldn't wipe the tearstains or tears off his face to hide the fact that he was crying.

"You said you can't move?" Mustang said.

"Yeah, I'm stuck." Edward muttered. "Between a door and you!"

"You can't move at all?" Mustang asked.

Edward opened his eyes to glare at him. "If I could, would I still be here. The only thing I can move is my head. My legs are stuck between the seat and dashboard. They are smashed."

"I thought you said your legs just hurt." Mustang said angrily.

"It might be more. I'm not sure. They feel numb." Edward explained.

Mustang sighed. He shifted in his seat, moving his limbs around. Pain shot through his body as he moved, but he ignored it. They had to get out of this car. "I think I can get out."

Mustang pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket. He reached to where the buckle was and cut through the strap. When he cut all the way through, it snapped back, making Mustang hissed as it whacked against his wounds.

"How do you plan to get out?" Edward asked.

"The windshield was destroyed on your side of the car. I'll climb through it." Mustang explained.

Edward looked at him skeptically. "How do you plan to do that with a steering wheel in the way?"

Mustang didn't reply. He shifted closer to Edward so the young alchemist could feel his boss's breath on him. "I'm going to cut you free then get out of the car. I'll try to get you out too."

Edward nodded his head. He looked down at his automail arm and paled even more. The car crash had destroyed his arm and pieces of metal from it had impaled him. He had impaled himself. The rest of his automail arm was stuck in the car door. "I'm not getting out, Mustang. My arm is stuck in the door."

Mustang finished cutting the seatbelt to free Ed. When he was done, he leaned across Ed to look at his arm. "Can I detach it? It's broken anyway."

"You don't know how to." Edward argued. "Just get out of the car."

"You're bleeding to death. You need out more than I do." Mustang retorted.

"How can you even move? Your ribs and arm are broken." Edward suddenly remembered.

Mustang raised a brow. "You're not the only one who continues to fight even when injured like this. I may not be the best at hand-to-hand combat, but…" He trailed off and looked back at Ed's arm. He leaned across Ed more to get a better look.

"Mustang," Ed hissed. "My arm is broken."

"Shut up, Fullmetal, and deal with the pain." Mustang hissed. He looked back at the automail arm. "It's almost completely detached already. I just need to pull it out the rest of the way, rip a few wires maybe."

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" Edward hissed. "Just leave me here to bleed to death. It will be less painful that way."

"How is ripping a few wires killing you?"

"My mechanic is going to be pissed when she sees this."

"Don't be a baby. She can't be that bad."

Mustang wrapped his arm around Edward's back so he had some support while he ripped the automail out since his left arm was useless at the moment. He grabbed Ed's upper part of his automail arm and pulled as hard as he could in his weakened state.

Edward bit his lip as jolts of pain shot through his body as Mustang pulled his arm out the rest of the way. He refused to scream in pain. He would not show any weakness.

After Mustang got the arm out, he left it to dangle at Ed's side and moved to the wires that were connected to the arm. He tore them out, leaving them to dangle out of the port at Ed's shoulder.

Edward shifted when his arm was gone. "Well, I think can move a little, but my legs are still stuck."

Mustang grunted. "I'm going to have to climb over you to get out."

"…..I hate you."

Mustang smirked. He pulled his legs onto the seat so he was kneeling on the seat. He reached across Ed to grab the door handle as a leverage. He used the leverage to pull himself onto Ed's automail leg. After that, he moved his hand up to the edge of the windshield that was connected to the ceiling of the car. He ignored the pieces of glass that wasn't broken that was cutting into his hand and pulled himself onto the dashboard. He was sitting so his back was to the windshield and he was facing Ed with his feet still resting on the young alchemist's lap. Behind him, he felt the rain hitting his back and over the rain, he heard voices yelling orders around.

Ed glared at him. He didn't want the man's feet on him. There were germs on his shoes and he was covered in cuts that were getting germs in them. His wounds were going to get infected. As if he didn't feel bad enough. His headache was getting worse with each passing second and he felt that he was going to pass out soon. His nauseating feeling was also getting worse.

Mustang looked at Ed with worried eyes, but didn't say anything. He grabbed the edge of the ceiling again and pulled himself backwards until he got outside. The rain began to hit him harder when he got out. He hissed when the rain hit his cuts.

"Colonel!" A voice cried in surprise.

Mustang looked around to see his most loyal subordinate standing by the rescue crew as they worked on getting the driver from the car that hit him out. Nearby was an ambulance and paramedics.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye." Mustang said.

"Are you okay, sir?" Hawkeye asked.

Mustang slid off the car. "As good as I can be after being in a car wreck.

"Where is Major Elric?" Hawkeye asked, looking at the car worriedly.

"Stuck." Mustang said. He leaned over the side of the car to look back through the windshield. He looked down at Ed, who was slumped forward in his seat. "Fullmetal?"

Edward didn't reply.

Mustang squinted through the rain as he looked at Ed closely. His chest was barely rising and falling, which meant that Ed was dying. He looked back at his team. In his condition, there was no way he could get Ed out of the car. "Havoc!"

Havoc saluted quickly. "Yes sir?"

"Get over here and get Fullmetal out of the car." Mustang ordered.

Havoc didn't question his boss. He never questioned him when he used that tone of voice. It was a voice full of urgently. He climbed onto the hood of the car and looked through the windshield.

"He's already free of his seatbelt and I detached his arm so you just need to get his legs out then pull him out." Mustang explained.

Havoc slipped into the car, crawling over Edward, and sat next to the blond. He checked Ed's pulse and frowned when he found it to be very weak. "Good thing you are unconscious, chief. This is probably going to hurt a lot." Havoc mumbled to himself. He threw his cigarette away so he could focus on getting his superior out of the car.

Havoc grabbed Ed's legs and tugged at them, trying to pull them free from their trapped position between the dashboard and seat. His legs were really stuck though. He stopped pulling when he heard a whimper from Ed. He checked to see the boy was still unconscious.

Running a hand through his hair, Havoc looked down at the boy's legs to see why they weren't moving. The first problem he saw was that the boys coat and pants were caught in the dashboard compartment door. He took Ed's coat off the boy's arm and pushed it to the ground to get it out of the way. Next, he ripped the parts of Ed's pants that were stuck.

With Ed's clothes unstuck, Havoc tried to pull the boy's legs free again. When the boy's automail leg wouldn't budge, Havoc examined it more closely. There were some wires sticking out of the alchemist's leg and they were stuck and wrapped around handles and knobs and the dashboard compartment door cracks. Sighing, Havoc pulled out his swiss army knife and cut the wires loose.

With the wires out of the way, Havoc pulled at the legs again. This time the legs starting to move. He pulled them up onto the seats. He frowned when he saw the metal impaled in Ed's side. Havoc shifted Ed around so his back was leaning against the passenger's door. Then he climbed onto the dashboard.

"Havoc, how is Fullmetal?" Mustang demanded.

Havoc stuck his head out the windshield, cutting his cheek on a piece of glass, but he ignored it. "Still unconscious, sir."

"Hurry up. He's dying." Mustang said.

"Almost done, Colonel." Havoc replied, worry hidden in his voice. Edward was just a kid and he felt like an older brother whose job it was to protect the young state alchemist.

Havoc entered the car again. He gently pulled Edward up to him and wrapped his arms around his waist. He pulled the boy up to the dashboard and on his knees, crawled backwards while pulling Edward with him. "Get the paramedics over here." He grunted as he carefully pulled Edward out over the glass.

"We're already here." One of the paramedics said.

The two paramedics took Edward from Havoc and put him on the gurney. Mustang followed the paramedics to the ambulance as they wheeled Edward over to it. He was limping as he walked. Obviously there was something wrong with his legs. He climbed into the ambulance after the paramedics got Edward in it.

"Sir?" Hawkeye asked by the doors.

"Go get Alphonse and bring him to the military hospital." Mustang ordered.

"Yes sir."

Havoc looked down at himself to see the chief's blood splattered all over him. Sighing, Havoc took his coat off and threw it in the back of the military car. It was best Al didn't see him covered in his brother's blood. He pulled out a new cigarette, chewing on it in thought and worry.

"I'll protect all those below me." Mustang said.

In Eastern Command military hospital, Mustang was in a hospital room, lying on a bed. He turned his head to look at the limp form of his subordinate, who was unconscious and just returned from surgery half an hour ago. He had a bunch of different machines connected to him and tubes up his nose and in his mouth. His arm was in a cast and there was an IV in his arm. There was still dry blood in his golden-blond hair that was no longer in its braid.

Mustang had bandages wrapped around his chest after the glass was taken out and his arm was in a sling. His left leg was resting on top of a pile of pillows in a cast. There was more wrong with his leg than he realized. Along with all their injuries, both he and Edward had severe concussions.

By the window sitting on the floor was a suit of armor that was Alphonse Elric. As soon as Edward was out of surgery Al came into the room and sat on the floor to wait for his brother to wake up.

Mustang shifted on his bed so he could turn his head to look at the armored boy. "I'm sorry, Al."

A creaking sound was heard throughout the room as Al turned his head to look at the Colonel. His red eyes looked as confused as they possibly could have. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Colonel."

Mustang shook his head. "I make it my job to protect all those below me." He looked at the unconscious boy who looked smaller than he usually does. "I wasn't able to protect Fullmetal today."

"You can't blame yourself, Colonel. You couldn't have predicted that car coming out of nowhere and hitting you." Al objected. He looked back at his brother's limp form. "I don't think brother will blame you so you shouldn't blame yourself."

"ROY!"

Al and Mustang jumped in surprise at the sudden outburst. They looked towards the door to see Hughes standing there.

"And Edward!" Hughes said in surprise. "I got a call that you got yourself in a wreck and I rushed right over here because I got the perfect thing to make you feel all better."

Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. Hughes suddenly evil, maniacal grin slipped into place and his eyes flashed brightly with insaneness, in everyone's opinion but Hughes's. Then Hughes slipped a hand into his pocket and flashed pictures of his daughter in front of Roy's face.

"Look at my beautiful little girl. In this one she was learning how to walk. Isn't she the cutest little girl you have ever seen? Look at this one with her in her new dress. She could be a model with how cute she is!" Hughes gushed.

Mustang's brow twitched in annoyance. "Hughes….."

"And look at this one, she is wearing her mommy's make-up."

"Hughes….."

"And in this one….."

"HUGHES!"

Hughes stopped shoving pictures in Mustang's face to look at him annoyed. "Roy, I'm trying to show you pictures of my wonderful daughter. Please don't interrupt."

Mustang looked around his bed. "Damn it, where are my gloves?"

Hughes gasped dramatically and jumped away from the bed, cuddling his pictures to his chest protectively. "You…you fiend…how dare you threatened to destroy my pictures!"

"I'm an injured man. You shouldn't be shoving pictures in my face."

"But looking at pictures of my daughter will help you feel better."

"How is shoving pictures in my face going to make me feel better?"

"Just looking at my beautiful daughter will bring a smile to your face and you'll feel better in no time!"

"You're insane! A picture isn't going to get me out of this hellhole anytime soon."

"You don't know that. It could be a new healing technique that heals people faster than normal."

"A picture can't heal someone, you idiot!"

"How would you know? You won't even give it a chance."

Al laughed, a hollow laugh but that was expected when one was a soul bounded to a suit of armor.

Hughes and Mustang stopped bickering and looked at Al.

"Y-you….hahaha….g-guys….sound like….hahah….an old married…..hahahaha…..couple." Al explained.

Mustang and Hughes gaped at Al. They started yelling at the same time.

"I WOULD NEVER MARRY A FREAK LIKE HIM!"

"WHY WOULD I EVER MARRY THIS PYROMANIAC WHEN I HAVE MY BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL GRACIA TO THINK ABOUT?"

They both stopped and looked at each other.

"FREAK?"

"PYROMANIAC?"

"I'M NO FREAK! I JUST HAVE A GREAT LOVE FOR MY FAMILY!"

"I AM NOT A PYROMANIAC! FLAME ALCHEMY IS JUST MY SPECIALTY!"

"Old married couple." Al said in a sing-song voice. "I can't wait to tell brother this when he wakes up."

Hughes and Mustang looked at each other again.

"It's not just Fullmetal."

"They are both evil."

Hughes wiped his glasses off with the hem of his military jacket. "So, how did Ed end up here?"

"He was in the car with me." Mustang replied. "I wanted to talk to him." He looked at the limp form of the major. "It's ironic. The only reason I got my answers to what I wanted to ask him was because of us being hit by that car."

"What did you want to know?" Hughes asked.

Mustang shook his head. "No, I'm not telling. It's his business." He looked over at Al. He wanted to tell him about Ed thinking he hated him, but knew it wasn't his place. Ed would have to talk to Al about that when he was ready. It wasn't his place to intervene. "Why are you here, Hughes?"

"What? I'm not allowed to visit my buddy?" Hughes asked.

"How did you even get out here so fast? The wreck was only a few hours ago." Mustang demanded.

Hughes shrugged and held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, you caught me! I got assigned a mission to investigate a series of murders and the trail led me here. I heard about the wreck and decided to come check on you before I got back to work. No one informed that Ed was in the car with you though."

"It was Fullmetal's day off. He wasn't even supposed to be in the office today." Mustang said.

Al shifted where he was. He knew why his brother ran to the office today. October third was just a horrible day. It seemed that this day was mocking them. But the boys wouldn't let it win. They would move passed it and move forward like they always did. **  
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	5. Story 5: Gracia

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist

**Full Metal Alchemist: Stories of Central**

**A/N: This one takes place when Roy and Hughes were cadets still so no Edward or Alphonse.**

"Talking"

_Thought_

**One shot #5: Gracia**

Roy sat on a cliff that overlooked a beach with his legs handing over the edge. His hands were resting on the ground behind him so he could lean back. He was wearing black dress pants, a white long sleeve shirt, a black suit jacket that was left opened, polished dress shoes, and a black tie. Standing behind him was his best friend from the military academy, Maes Hughes. After their fight with the six seniors at the military academy the year before they started hanging out more and became the best of friends. They were always seen together. The two still competed in trying to outdo the other in training and in class. They enjoyed the challenge.

They had just finished their first year at the academy a month ago and were now on break in Central. Apparently they both lived in Central, but they never realized it, probably because they had different interests. Roy studied alchemy when he was younger and Maes was just making his way through high school in Central.

Both of them came to the beach that was closest to Central everyday to run for three hours a day and went to a gym every other day to keep themselves in shape for when they went back to the academy for their second and last year at the academy. They only took one day off a week from training and today was their day off.

"How much longer are we going to have to hang out here?" Hughes asked.

Roy sighed. "Our reservations are for five so just wait a little bit longer."

"Why did you pick such a nice restaurant then? I would have been fine with just a simple place for dinner." Maes pointed out. His attire consisted of nice black jeans, a white long sleeve shirt, and a navy blue suit jacket that was left open. It was his birthday today and Roy insisted they go to a nice restaurant for it.

Roy rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet. "Shut up, Maes. It'll be fun. I think you'll really like this restaurant."

The young alchemist glanced at his watch. He quickly stood up. "Come on. We're running late." Roy said as he pushed Maes away from the cliff and towards the boardwalk.

"Seriously? And you made me wait here?" Maes said.

The cadet friends walked down the sidewalk, led by Roy. It took them ten minutes to make it to the restaurant that sat across from the lake. The only thing that separated the restaurant from the beach was the boardwalk.

"Le café du destin?" Maes said confused as he looked at the restaurant.

"It means the cafe of destiny." Roy explained.

Maes raised a brow. "Why would you choose this place?"

Roy smirked. "You'll see." He pushed Maes into the restaurant.

The young woman at the podium looked up at them when they came in. She had long brown hair tied in a ponytail and shining blue eyes that were filled with cheerfulness. "Welcome to Le café du destin. Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, reservation for Roy Mustang for two at five." Roy told her, giving her a charming smile.

She checked her list before nodded her head. She grabbed six menus from a shelf in the podium and motioned for the cadets to follow her. "My name is Katelyn." She told Roy.

"It's very nice to meet you, Katelyn. I'm Roy Mustang." Roy told her, smiling at her, which made her giggle.

Katelyn led the pair to a booth that was next to a window. Maes sat on one side and Roy sat on the other side.

Maes turned to Roy when she left. "So, why this restaurant?"

Roy nodded towards the waitress that was coming near them. She had light brown shoulder length hair and bright green eyes that were full of kindness. Her waitress outfit was a red knee length skirt with a light blue apron around her waist. She wore a white long sleeved blouse with a nametag on the right. A diamond teardrop necklace lay on top of her blouse. When Maes looked at her, his mouth dropped open and he turned flaming red. He reached across the table and hit Roy in the arm. "What the hell were you thinking bringing me to where she works?"

"Just so you know, her name is Gracia. You haven't stopped talking about her since we saw her and her friends at the beach a few weeks ago, and that was the only time we've ever seen her. I think you need to meet her." Roy explained, rubbing his arm, but with a smirk in place.

"How did you find her?" Maes hissed.

Roy smirked. "I ran into one of the girls we saw with her and chatted her up. She told me where she worked and that she is single. This is your moment to get a date." He clapped Maes on the shoulder.

"You're trying to set me up." Maes growled.

"Trust me, if I don't, you'll never make your move." Roy replied, grinning at the glare that Maes gave him.

"Hello." A gentle voice said.

Maes looked up to see Gracia standing at their table with a notepad and pen in her hands. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before turning to stare at the table to get his nerves in order.

Gracia blinked a few times. "Can I get you your drinks?"

Roy sighed at his friend's nervousness. "We'll have two glasses of pineapple slush."

"Coming right up." Gracia replied.

Maes watched her go with a dreamy expression. When she was gone, he turned back to Roy and whacked him again. "Why would you do this to me?"

"Just talk to her like you would any other person and you'll be fine." Roy replied idly as he tugged at the sleeve of his suit jacket.

"B-but….she isn't like any other person." Maes spluttered.

Roy raised a brow. "Oh? How so?"

"She's an angel, Roy, I'm telling you. Her beauty knows no bounds and she is so kind. She probably doesn't have a mean bone in her body." Maes said, resting his chin in his opened palm with a dreamy expression.

"You don't even know her. You've never spoken to her." Roy argued.

Maes sighed dreamily. "I just know."

Roy shook his head. "She's coming back. Be ready to talk to her."

Maes whipped around to see Gracia returning. "Oh no, I can't."

Roy hit his forehead when Maes jumped out of his seat and made a beeline for the bathroom.

Gracia put the glasses on the table. "Is there something wrong with your friend?"

"No, no, why would you say that?" Roy asked.

"He seems to be avoiding me." Gracia replied when she finished putting the glasses on the table. She pulled her pen out from behind her ear.

"Oh, that? He isn't avoiding you. He's just shy about meeting new people." Roy lied, stifling a laugh.

Gracia giggled. "That's cute."

Roy snickered. "You can wait here. He'll return eventually."

Gracia smiled and sat in Maes's empty seat. "While I'm waiting, I'll take your orders."

In the bathroom, Maes was splashing his red face with freezing cold water. He grabbed the towel off the wall and dried his face off. He stared into the mirror and looked at his still red face. After a few calming breath and a few minutes of thoughts that were involved around everything except Gracia, his face was no longer red. He put his glasses back on and stared determinedly in the mirror.

When he walked back to the table he was shocked to find Gracia sitting in his seat. "Hello."

Gracia looked up at him. "Hello Maes."

Maes froze and stared at her. "How did you know….."

"Roy told me." Gracia explained.

Maes nodded his head. "Well, are we trading spots? I'm the waiter and I'm serving you now."

Laughing, Gracia stood up and offered him his seat back. "No, I was just waiting for you to return so I could get your order."

Maes sat down and quickly told her what he wanted.

"You're making some progress, I guess." Roy said.

Maes sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"Make her smile and laugh is the first step." Roy said. "And he's already got that down." He nodded his head in the direction of Gracia who was at another table. She kept sending Maes looks and smiling at him.

Maes sighed happily when he caught one of her looks.

Roy shook his head at his friend. They were going to be here for hours just so Maes could make googly eyes at Gracia and she back at him.

"This is ridiculous." Roy hissed under his breath hours later. "Why won't they just talk to each other already?"

Having had enough, Roy raised his hand. "Excuse me, Gracia?"

Gracia walked over to them. "Yes?"

"Can we have the bill please?"

"Coming right up." Gracia replied.

Maes hit Roy again. "What did you do that for? Now we're going to have to leave."

"You're being pathetic. Just talk with her." Roy said.

Maes kicked him under the table.

"Wow, you're violent." Roy mumbled, rubbing his knees. "Maes, here's an idea." He whispered his plan into Maes's ear. Maes grinned at the plan and nodded his head.

"Here's your check." Gracia said, handing the check to Roy.

"Thanks." Roy mumbled.

When Gracia left, Maes pulled out his wallet. He pulled out some money for the tip. He motioned to another waitress to come over and asked to borrow her pen. With the pen in hand, Maes quickly jotted his name and number down on a napkin and put it with the tip.

After that the pair got up and left quickly after Roy paid for the meal. "Do you think Gracia will call me?" Maes asked.

"I'm sure she will." Roy said, dragging Maes down the boardwalk by the back of his jacket.

A few days later, Maes walked into his house to find a note on the table form his mom saying that he got a phone call from a woman called Gracia and she left him her number. Grinning, Maes grabbed the note and ran to the phone to call her back, but she wasn't home when he called.

The next day he went back to the beach with Roy and spent the whole day there after their run. They wandered around on the boardwalk, talking about nothing important. When you spent every day with someone you kind of run out of things to talk about so you just start talking about nothing important.

They walked passed Le café du destin that night after it closed and paused in front of it. "So, did you get a call back from Gracia?"

Maes grinned. "Yeah. She called yesterday but I wasn't home. I called her back when I got home but she wasn't home. I'll have to try again later."

Roy smiled at his friend. "I knew she liked you."

"Oh, how?" Maes retorted.

"The googly eyes!" Roy practically yelled before walking away, mumbling. "The googly eyes. It was the googly eyes. Those damn googly eyes."

Blinking in surprise, Maes chased after his friend until he caught up to him and slowed to a walk. "So I want to take her on a date but I'm not sure how to ask her."

Roy sighed. "You say, do you want to go out sometime."

"But will that work?" Maes asked, mostly to himself.

Roy rolled his eyes. "You're worrying too much. If it doesn't work you can just try again some other time, but you should ask her in person, not over the phone."

Before Maes could reply, the boys stopped when they heard a distressed call for help. They looked at each other before rushing into the alley they heard the yell coming from. Two men were standing over the body of a woman. One of them had a knife and was holding a teardrop necklace in his hand.

Maes eyes widened when he noticed the necklace. He knew that necklace. It was only a few days ago when he saw it for the first time. He looked at the woman on the ground and saw that it was Gracia. Blood was dripping from a cut on her cheek.

Maes saw red.

"Oh, this isn't good." Roy muttered and he stepped to the side when he saw his friend's murderous expression.

Maes charged down the alley and slammed his fist into the closest man's face. With that man distracted from the punch, he moved to the second man who raised his knife to Maes. The young cadet easily knocked the knife out of his hand and kneed him in the stomach.

While Maes dealt with the two men, Roy moved towards Gracia and kneeled next to her. "Gracia."

Gracia looked up at the sound of a familiar voice. "Roy."

Roy noticed a cut just above her chest and one on her cheek. "Are you okay?"

Tears filled up in Gracia's eyes.

_I'll take that as a no._ Roy thought to himself. He looked back at Maes to see him standing over the two men. He pushed the knife away from them and pulled something out of one of the men's hands.

"Gracia, I believe this is yours." Maes said gently, holding out the teardrop necklace to her.

Gracia reached a shaky hand out to grab the necklace. "Thanks Maes."

Maes gently closed Gracia's fist around the necklace. "Roy, go call the cops." He said quietly to his friend.

Roy nodded his head and quickly left to find a phone.

Maes kneeled next to Gracia and engulfed her in a hug. He made sure her face was buried in his shoulder so she didn't have to look at the two bastards on the ground. "You really shouldn't be walking around alone at night. It's dangerous."

Gracia nodded her head against Maes's shoulder.

The two stayed where they were, engulfed in that hug, until Roy returned. "The cops are coming." He glanced at Gracia and added quietly, "Get Gracia out of this alley."

"Come on Gracia." Maes whispered. He pulled her up and walked slowly out of the alley with her. "Everything will be alright now. They won't hurt you anymore. I'll protect you now."

Maes took her to a bench and sat down. Gracia wrapped her arms around Maes's waist and rested her head on his lap. Roy stayed in the alley to keep an eye on the men.

"Thanks Maes." Gracia whispered before passing out.

Maes smiled gently down at her.

*F*M*A*

Roy sighed in annoyance as Maes talked to him about getting a wife. Ever since he had helped the man get Gracia, he had constantly talked to him about getting a wife. It was annoying. Why the hell did he ever help Maes get her? Why? If only he knew the torture it would bring him in the end.

As Roy slammed the phone down to get Maes to shut up and leave him alone, he let a small smile form on his lips. His friend may be annoying, but he was a really loyal and trustworthy friend to have in the military. His constant talk about getting a wife was a good way to keep people off their trail. But really, he didn't have to call him every day and tell him to get a wife. He would find a wife when he was good and ready to, damn it! And no friend, not even a best friend, was going to decide when he was ready to.

**A/N: Pineapple slush is a drink my mom makes. It's ginger ale, vodka, and pineapple juice mixed together and then it is put in the freezer to make a slush. When you serve it you put 55/50 in it. It's actually really good. I made the drinking age in this eighteen so they could drink it.**

**Please Review!**


	6. Story 6: Family

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist

**Full Metal Alchemist: Stories of Central**

**A/N: This one takes place with everyone in Central**

**Ed: 14, almost 15**

**Al: 13**

"Talking"

_Thought_

**One shot #6: Family **

A worn out and angry teenager could be seen walking down the halls of Central Command towards the mess hall. Behind a tall suit of armor followed him, stopping to apologize to the soldiers that his brother ran into. Whispers followed the teen.

"He looks ready to break."

"I'm surprised he hasn't broken yet. All soldiers break."

"A kid won't last long in the military. It's only a matter of time."

These whispers didn't penetrate Ed's ears. He was much too angry and tired to hear them. He just returned from a long and hard mission. The mission consisted of long nights of research, long train rides, and a lot of sneaking around. Not to mention that his most promising lead on the Philosopher Stone turned out to be false. Needless to say, Ed has gotten very little sleep in the last month and a half.

Ed just returned from the mission an hour ago and just finished reporting to Mustang, his commanding officer. Mustang, the jerk, reprimanded him for blowing up a car. Ed tried to explain it was a distraction so he could sneak into the lab/house he was investigating, but Mustang wouldn't hear of it. He never let him explain, just scolded him for all the money he spent and mess ups then dismissed him. It was so annoying.

Walking tiredly into the mess hall, Ed stumbled forward a few steps. His brother planted a hand on his shoulder to steady him allowing Ed to shoot him a tired, but grateful smile. "Brother, you look dead on your feet. I'll go get your lunch. You go sit down."

"Sounds like a plan." Ed mumbled, walking towards the nearest empty seat. He collapsed in his seat. His arms crossed in front of him on the table and he buried his head in them.

"EDO!"

The young state alchemist twitched violently at the name. He sat up and glared at the offender who messed his name up. "Hughes."

"You look tired Ed. I know what will cheer you up." Hughes said cheerfully, hand reaching into his pocket, making Ed groan. A handful of pictures were shoved in his face. "Look at my beautiful daughter and wife."

Grumbling, Ed looked at the pictures shoved into his face. Only a few inches kept them from touching him. He felt like he was going cross eyed looking at them. His eyes fell on one picture in particular. It was a picture of Gracia, Maes, and Elysia, who was sitting on her dad's shoulders with a huge grin.

Ed frowned at the picture, the picture of a perfect, happy family. "Hughes." He said warningly.

"You can't be upset when looking at my wonderful family." Hughes gushed.

"Hughes."

"Just look at my little ang-"

CLANG!

The sound of Ed's automail hand hitting the table caused everyone to look at him. This could only mean one thing. Someone had angered/upset/annoyed the boy and that person was going to learn about pain. Ed's metal hand connected with the table a second time, he pushed his chair back so fast that it clattered to the floor. Standing up straight, Ed just reached Maes's chest but that was not what was on his mind. Enraged eyes looked at Hughes. Before Hughes could think, Ed swiped all his pictures out of his hands.

"Brother?" Al asked timidly. Sure, he saw his brother mad, but never this furious.

For the first time ever Ed ignored his baby brother. He stacked the pictures into a neat pile before ripping them into little pieces and tossing them in the air. He met Hughes's shocked, confused, and mad look before expertly spinning on his heels and marching out of the deathly quiet mess hall.

Al shifted on his feet nervously as he watched his brother's red coat whip out the door and down the hall.

"My pictures." Hughes whispered as he watched the little pieces hit the ground.

"Um…" Al looked at Hughes nervously. He never saw this calm, cheerful man upset or mad. "Mr. Hughes?"

Hughes took a deep breath to calm down. It wasn't Al he was upset with. "Yes Al?"

"I….um…I'm sorry about my brother. We just returned from a long mission and brother hasn't been eating or sleeping properly for weeks so he is a tad bit irritable." Al said quickly.

"A tad bit?" Hughes hissed. "Sure, Al, I had people threaten to destroy my pictures and they have, but those were new and I haven't gotten copies of them."

Al's big metal hands wrung around each other nervously. "Oh…..um….I'm really sorry about this."

"I want to hear it from your brother, Al. He has to learn to take responsibility for his actions. You can't always be the one to apologize for him." Hughes said.

Al nodded his head.

*F*M*A*

"But brother….."

"No Al. He should learn not to shove pictures in people's faces." Ed growled, stomping down the sidewalk, shoving people out of his way as he went. Al kept stopping to apologize for him.

Al ran to catch up with brother, apologizing to more people as he went. "But brother…..sorry…..he's our friend….sorry…..and you destroyed something valuable to him…sorry…Wouldn't you want an apology if he destroyed something of value to you like….like your notes?"

Ed scoffed. "Why would he even

"Sorry." Al said quickly.

"have my notes?" Ed continued as if there was no interruption.

Al sighed. "That's not the point here. The point is you should apologize. You had no excuse to destroy his pictures."

Ed rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that, brother?" Al asked.

"Nothing." Ed growled. "I don't even know how you convinced me to come here. Hughes probably doesn't want to see me."

"You don't know that." Al said.

"Big brothers!"

Al and Ed looked at Elysia, who was playing in the snow with Gracia and Maes watching.

"Hello Elysia." Al greeted. He looked at his brother. "Go talk to Mr. Hughes."

Ed was ready to object when his brother's red eyes narrowed angrily and he pushed him forward.

Grumbling, Ed shoved his hands in his pockets and moved towards the adults. He glanced at Al, who was now playing with Elysia. Al looked at him with red eyes full of threats if he didn't talk to Hughes right now.

"Hello Ed." Gracia greeted when Ed reached them.

"Hello Mrs. Hughes." Ed paused for a few seconds as he looked at Hughes. "Hughes."

"Hello Edward."

Gracia looked between the two and sighed. "It's been two weeks. Just talk already." She pointed into the house with a frown.

In the living room Ed and Hughes were having a stare down. Each of them was daring the other to talk first.

"I DON'T HEAR TALKING!" Gracia yelled.

Both men jumped in surprise.

"Fine." Hughes dropped onto the couch and sighed. "Ed, why did you rip my pictures?"

Ed crossed his arms and glared at the wall. "First Al, now you. It's none of your business."

Sighing, Hughes leaned back in his seat with his arms propped up on the back of the couch and his legs spread out in front of him. "There were my pictures, Edward. I deserve to know why you destroyed my pictures."

Edward glared at an old family picture on the wall. Elysia looked to only have just born in this picture. "Do you know that my mom died when I was five and that my dad abandoned us when I was just four?"

"Yes. As an investigator I found that out." Hughes replied.

"I took over the role of being a dad to Al when mom died. Even before she died I took over the role of being the man in the house at four years old. FOUR YEARS OLD!" Ed kicked the couch angrily. "I had to grow up at four. I never got to be a child. My time as a child I can't remember."

Hughes frowned at the boy. "Ed?"

"I've been taking care of Al practically my whole life. It's my job to protect him. It's my job to be a parent to him. Whenever he picks up a cat I have to scold him and tell him to get rid of it. He loves cats and I don't want to do that, but I have to be the responsible one. He still gets to act like a kid, picking up strays, playing with kids, getting to be so carefree. I want that." Ed's hands curled into fists. "I want that. I want to be able to be a kid again. I tired of all this. I'm tired of having to be the adult. I'm tired of being a state alchemist. I'm tired of all the missions. I'm tired of being scolded for everything, not once getting praised for doing something good. It's always getting yelled at. I'm fourteen and in the military. As if there isn't enough I have to deal with. There're soldiers saying I'm going to break soon. There're soldiers saying I don't belong there. There're soldiers saying I got in because I bribed the higher ups. It's all getting really annoying. It's not like I actually want to be there."

Hughes pushed himself off the couch and moved over to where Ed was staring at the wall. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder, feeling him tense up. "Then quit. No one is making you stay in the military. You can quit whenever you want to."

Edward whipped around to glare at him. "No! I can't."

Hughes planted his hands firmly on Ed's shoulders. "Why?"

"You know why!" Ed shouted, pushing away from Hughes and backing up to the wall. "We're screwed up, completely screwed up." He ripped his glove off his hand. "LOOK! I have automail limbs and Al….Al…my baby brother is trapped in a suit of armor, my baby brother. We are mess ups. We have no parents. We are just two screwed up orphans!" Ed slid down the wall. "And….and then you come along. You love your family so much…you just love them and you want everyone to know. You shove pictures in everyone's faces and talk excitedly about them all the time."

"Ed." Hughes said sadly as he kneeled in front of the boy. "Ed, it's okay. You can stop."

Ed shook his head. His hands tangled themselves in his hair. "I'm jealous. I want a family like you have. I want my parents back, even my bastard of a father. I want him back. I want mom back. I want my brother's body back. I want my limbs back. I just want a peaceful life with my family in Resembool like it should have been. I want to know that my dad loves me. I want to know that I'm not a disgrace to him…..I….I…I just want to be loved like you love Elysia and Mrs. Hughes."

Hughes wrapped his arms around the boy. He pushed Ed's head into his shoulder and ran a soothing hand down his back. "Shh. It's okay, Ed. I understand. I understand. You don't have to continue. I understand. I'm not mad at you. I should have realized this on my own. I'm sorry, Edo."

"I'm a screw up." Ed whispered. "I always mess things up for people."

"It just proves that you are human. No one is perfect, Edo. We all make mistakes. None of us are perfect." Hughes replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for destroying your pictures." Ed whispered.

Hughes shook his head. "Forget about it. They were just pictures."

*F*M*A*

"Fullmetal is strong, Maes. You don't have to worry about him. He's not going to break." Mustang said.

Hughes shrugged. "Just thought you would like to know what the soldiers are saying about your subordinate." He grinned evilly. "Do you want to see a picture?"

Mustang groaned. "In case you haven't noticed, I have all these papers that I need to sign." He motioned to the stack on his desk.

"Since when have you cared about paperwork?" Hughes accused as he dug a picture out of his pocket. "You just have to look at my family. They are the best family ever!" He shoved a picture in Mustang's face. Mustang looked at it in shock. A grinning Ed was playing a board game with Al and Elysia. Gracia sat on the couch, smiling as she watched them. Mugs of hot cocoa sat around them.

"You….you adopted them into your family?" Mustang asked.

"Not officially. But I will be here waiting for them to come to Central to visit. They'll always have a place to stay when in Central." Hughes said with a small smile as he put the picture away. "They need a family waiting for them."

"SHORT? WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT YOU WANT TO HUG HIM LIKE HE WAS A CUTE PUPPY?" Ed screeched.

Hughes and Mustang looked at the office doors. "Huh, I thought these offices were supposed to be sound proof." Hughes said thoughtfully.

"Not with Fullmetal around." Mustang muttered, rubbing his temples.

"I guess Ed's family is bigger than I thought." Hughes said with a mischievous smile.

Mustang sighed. "You would probably be right. They all love him like he was their kid brother. He just doesn't realize it."

"Maybe I should help him…." Hughes said thoughtfully before hurrying out of the office."

A week later a file landed on Mustang's desk from Hughes. Curious, Mustang opened the file to have a pile of pictures fall out of it. They were all of his team, him, and the Elric brothers. Hughes must have been spying on them. There was one of Havoc and Ed having a snowball fight, how childish. Another was of Ed laughing as he watched Breda hide behind a tree from Black Hayate who was being trained by Hawkeye. Then there was of one of Ed drawing on his face while he slept with Al in the background, probably scolding Ed.

"That little brat." Mustang hissed when he saw the picture. "I knew he was the one to do that."

Shifting through the pictures, Mustang saw another of him. He was talking to a scowling Ed in the hallway. The next was a picture of Ed and Al outside. Al was playing with Black Hayate with Riza watching with a smile while Ed was looking at something at Central Command with a deep respect shining in his eyes. In the back of the picture, Mustang recognized himself leaving Central Command. Did he actually respect him?

"The pictures are for you."

Mustang whipped his head up to see Hughes sitting on his couch. "When did you come in?"

"About fifteen minutes ago. You were really absorbed in that picture. Ed doesn't know about those pictures in that file. They would probably embarrass him. I thought you would like some pictures of your family." Hughes shrugged.

"My family?" Mustang scoffed.

Hughes smiled knowingly at him. "I got some rather intimate pictures of the kid. He really does like your team."

Mustang looked at the next picture of Riza standing behind Ed, who was sitting at Mustang's desk. She was leaning over his shoulder, smiling gently at Ed. Ed was grinning back at her. "When was this taken?"

"Hm?"

"This picture? When were they in my office?" Mustang asked.

"Two days ago. Your paperwork was going to be late and you had disappeared so Ed starting forging your signature on the forms with Hawkeye helping him along, telling him which ones you would sign and which ones you wouldn't." Hughes replied, stretching his arms in the air. "He got through all your paperwork in an hour when it would have taken you all day."

Mustang shook his head and put the pictures back in his file. "Hawkeye is usually the one to sign them when they are going to be late like that."

Hughes shrugged. "Ed was the one who realized your paperwork was running late and starting signing them before Hawkeye came in and saw him. She started reading through the papers before having Ed sign them for you."

"Oh." Mustang said. "I didn't think he would cover for me."

Hughes shrugged and stood up. "He does respect you. He just doesn't want you to know." He said before leaving the office. As Hughes opened the door Mustang heard "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"What?"

"It's Ed's birthday." Hughes shot him a grin. "It's also Elysia's. Don't forget that you promised to come over after work."

Mustang groaned and pushed away from his desk. "Yeah, I know."

The pair moved into the outer office where Havoc was ruffling Ed's hair, messing it all up and having some of it fall out of the braid. Ed hit Havoc's hand away and pulled his hair tie out to fix his braid.

"Don't touch my hair." Ed snapped.

"You're such a girl, chief." Havoc chuckled, ruffling Ed's hair again just to annoy him.

"Stop it!" Ed growled.

Havoc held his hands out in front of him in fake fear. Everyone could tell it was fake fear because of his grin. "Do you want your gift or not?"

Ed blinked. "Gift?"

"Yes, gift." Havoc grinned at him. "You only turn fifteen once."

A small rectangular box was placed in Ed's hands by an amused Havoc. Taking the lid off, a silver chain with military tags on it fell in his hand. He raised a brow at his friend. "Military tags?"

"Sort of. Those ones are specially made for you." Havoc shrugged.

As he examined them, Ed noticed that the first tag was black with the name Fullmetal engraved on it in red with a red Flamel on the back. The second tag was steel blue with Major Edward Elric engraved on it. "Thanks Havoc." The young alchemist gave him a small smile as he unhooked the latch on the chain to put it on. He tucked the tags under his shirt. He would not let anyone know that he had them.

"No problem." Havoc ruffled Ed's hair again to annoy him.

Ed swapped at his hand again. "Don't."

"I guess in a strange way we are a family." Mustang said. He looked at Riza giving Ed a hug and slipping him a present. He looked at Hughes. "But it's only because Fullmetal is here. Being a kid in the military is tough and my team had to adapt to having one here. I guess the end result was all of us caring for the brat in one way or another."

"You should tell him that sometime. He needs to hear it." Hughes said.

Mustang rolled his eyes. "He doesn't want to hear that."

Hughes pushed his glasses up and gave Mustang a knowing smile before moving over to Ed and clapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

Mustang shook his head at his team and Hughes. Why would Fullmetal need to hear something like they care about him? Looking at the kid smiling with his team, Mustang gave a small smirk and went back into his office. The kid probably already knows that they all care. He didn't need to hear it. Smiles from the kid were rare. They were only reserved for his brother and his friends. He knows that they care in one way or another.

**A/N: Please Review!**

**Hughes was just being stubborn. He wasn't really mad.**


	7. Story 7: Why do you live?

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

**Fullmetal Alchemist: Stories of Central **

**Edward: 14 **

**Alphonse: 13**

"Talking"

_Thought _

**One shot #7: Why do you live?**

Walking down the sidewalk in the cold rain at night was the perfect way for someone to end up getting sick with a really horrible cold or the flu, especially a child. So why was he walking down the sidewalk at night in the cold rain? He knew he shouldn't be out here and that he should take better care of himself, but right now, he just didn't give a damn anymore. He just felt ready to give up on everything.

Why did he always mess everything up?

Three years ago he and his brother attempted to bring their mother back to life using human transmutation, the ultimate taboo in alchemy.

It went horribly wrong.

Death cannot be stopped and it can never be reversed. It is a part of life, a life that flowed in only one direction. Forward. That direction can never be reversed. Everyone has to abide to that flow. Nothing in this world can reverse it. Nobody could go against it, no matter how hard they tried.

Their human transmutation to bring their mother back went horribly wrong. A terrible rebound was the result of their transmutation. In the rebound, he lost his leg, but that was nothing compared to what his brother lost.

His _little_ brother, who didn't want to do the transmutation in the first place, who was scared, who was coaxed into doing it by his _older_ brother, who was supposed to protect him, lost his whole body in the transmutation. He was taken into the Gate.

Why was fate so cruel?

His little brother was an angel. He always wanted to please others and make them happy. He cared about everyone and hated to upset anyone. He was well liked, kind, generous, just like an angel, but an angel in a human body.

So why did fate give him the worse punishment in their sin?

He should have gotten the worse punishment. He was the aggressive, uncaring, mean, and proud one. And all he lost was his leg? Was fate that mean? Did fate want him to suffer so much because it knew that his little brother was the only family he had left so it decided to take him away to make him, the real sinner in their crime, hurt more?

That may have been fate's plan, but he wouldn't let fate win like that. No, his little brother was all he had left. He could not live without his little brother, his only family left.

He gave up his right arm. He gave it up to bound his little brother's soul to a suit of armor. His little brother now had to live as a suit of armor with no body. He couldn't sleep, eat, or feel anything. And it was him who put his little brother in that hell because he didn't want to be left alone. He wanted his little brother back so he would have some family left. Was it selfish of him to do that to his little brother?

Yes, yes it was selfish, but his little brother didn't deserve to die and he doesn't deserve to live his life as a suit of armor. He deserved more than that.

That's why Edward joined the state alchemists. It wasn't for him. He didn't care that he lost his arm and leg and now had to live with automail that hurt his body all the time. In the cold it would freeze, break, painful jolts went through his body, and he would get terrible frostbite. In the heat his skin around the automail would burn. In the rain his joints would ache. On a fine day he would have to deal the pain of having something abnormal, something that didn't belong, on his body. He would deal with this pain on his own.

He didn't join the state alchemists for himself.

No.

He joined, sold his soul to the military, to find a way to return Alphonse to his regular body. And he would succeed, no matter what. His brother would get his body back, even if he had to die to do it. He would not break his promise to his little brother.

It was two years ago when he joined the state alchemists and still, he is nowhere near getting his brother's body back.

Lead after lead he got on the Philosopher stone. And each of them had been false and ended badly.

The most recent lead was the worse so far.

There were some huge alchemical reports from a city in the west. An alchemist was pushing all military personal out of the city, saying he was the protector of the city and that the military didn't belong there. He was using powerful alchemy to keep the military out. The military couldn't handle him, he was too strong.

He was so strong that there were rumors that he was using the Philosopher stone to keep the city safe. The rumors probably started because he was doing alchemy without a circle.

It was because of those rumors that Colonel Mustang was intrigued and pulled a lot of strings to get Edward the mission to stop whatever was going on in the city and see if the man truly did have a Philosopher stone.

Getting in was easy for Edward. He didn't wear the military uniform and just had to hide his watch in his suit case and he got in the city easily. As for Al, no one argued with a big suit of armor. His target was found without much searching. He was an arrogant fool. He stayed out in the open, thinking nothing could harm him.

Edward and Alphonse proved him wrong.

He only beat the military because he saw them coming because of their uniforms or the clicking of their guns and was able to attack from afar so they couldn't get close to him to take him out fast.

But having a little kid who looks like he can't do any harm approach you doesn't inspire you to attack. Until he brings a metal fist forward and knocks your teeth out, but by that time, it is too late to stop the attack. His armored friend had already gotten behind you to attack you. You are outnumbered in enemies and power. They corner you and demand that you give them the Philosopher stone. You laugh madly and attack them, they dodge.

They defeat you. They demand the stone. You show your gloves. The kid gets mad and knocks you unconscious, yelling the whole time that this was a big waste of time.

But it's not over.

You were just a puppet.

The puppeteer watches the events in the alley from atop a building. He smirks and raises his hands to the sky. He yells the kid's name, making the kid and the armor look up at him. A wind blows, causing the puppeteer's necklace to blow in the wind. The kid's eyes widen when he sees the stone on the necklace. A blood red stone. He demands the stone. The puppeteer laughs, the stone glows bright red, and the ground around the kid and the armor begins to crumble.

The armor becomes frantic and grabs the kid around the waist. He runs, tripping up around the rumble, out of the alley with the kid shouting profanity the whole way.

The puppeteer laughs and jumps off the building. He runs away from the kids to the center of the city.

Edward pushes away from his brother and chases after the puppeteer, pushing everyone who got in his way to the ground. The armor sighs and follows his brother. When they reach the center of the city they find the puppeteer waiting for them. He laughs, says good job for coming this far, and rips his necklace off. He raises it into the air, it begins to glow again, and he drops to his knees to slam the stone into a crack in the ground.

Edward and Alphonse stare in shock as the city around them begins to crumble to the ground. The buildings collapse, the ground breaks, screaming fills the air as the buildings fall onto the civilians of the city. Chimeras crawled out of the buildings, coming up from a secret lab under the ground, and attack everything….everyone.

The teens stare in horror as everyone around them was getting killed. Alphonse moved into action and tries to protect everyone from the chimeras. Edward screamed and charged at the puppeteer, but he was already running away, leaving the stone in the ground. He stopped and looked at the stone. He grabbed at it, but as soon as he touched the activated stone, his hand began to burn up. He screamed in pain and tried to pull his hand away, but it was struck.

Edward looked up to see the puppeteer standing a few yards away, grinning manically at him. Not out yet, Edward grabbed some broken rubble, ripped the sleeves of his coat, and sliced his arm up. Using his blood, he quickly drew an array on the ground and slammed his hand on it. Walls formed around the puppeteer, keeping him locked in the area so he couldn't escape the city. The young alchemist drew another array with his blood. This time using it to create hands that sprouted from the ground that punched the puppeteer out cold.

With that done, Edward turned to his hand. He tried to pull his hand free again, and again, and again, and again, until he had enough! He drew another transmutation circle around the stone and his hand. He destroyed the ground and freed his hand, but the damn necklace was still stuck to his hand.

He stops trying to fix his hand when he hears his brother yelling for help. He looks up to see his brother surrounded by fifteen chimeras. He looks back at his hand. Taking a deep breath, he claps his hands and slams them on the ground. Waves of spikes sprouted from the ground and shot at the chimeras and Al. Al knocked the chimeras out of the way and got away from the spikes and chimeras.

By the time all the chimeras are dead, the city is in ruins, dead bodies of chimeras and humans lay everyone, and the stone on Ed's hand cracked and fell apart. It was just a fake, a powerful fake, but a fake nonetheless.

Edward looked at all the damage that was caused by the puppeteer and the stone, all the death and destruction, then passed out from his injuries.

He wakes up in a military transport vehicle that infiltrated the city when the military officers, that were stationed near the city that were trying to get back in, saw the explosions and the city falling to the ground. They found Al carrying Edward towards the edge of the city and picked them up when Al flashed Ed's watch. The truck was transporting them to the nearest city with a hospital. There, one of the soldiers contacted Colonel Mustang and explained to him what happened after Al informed him of what happened.

Mustang showed up a couple days later with his first lieutenant. Once he was sure that Edward's condition was stable he ordered that he was moved to the military hospital in Central.

Edward spent the ride to Central and the rest of his time in the hospital ranting about Mustang being a bastard and giving him that false lead. He kept saying that Mustang knew it was a fake and was using him because he knew he could get the job done. He used him to get more points with the higher ups so he could get a promotion faster. Mustang didn't care at all about him. He only moved him to the military hospital in Central so he could get Ed out on another mission as soon as possible.

But when Edward was alone in his hospital room, he would stare out the window and think about all the people who were killed because of the puppeteer and his stone. He would blame himself because he didn't stop the puppeteer soon enough. He just stood and watched him put the stone in the ground, causing the city to fall.

Why the hell did he mess everything up?

If only he was faster. If only he was smarter. If only he was stronger. If only he moved faster. If only he wasn't such an idiot. If only…..

He messed up everyone's lives. He ruined them. He tries to help people, but only makes everything worse.

And that bastard colonel didn't help or care. He just gave him smug smirks and teased him about his height. He didn't care about anyone, but himself. And whenever Ed came to him for help, he just gave another smug smirk and mocked him for not being able to handle something by himself. Ed got sick of it and just stopped asking for help eventually.

Ed was released from the hospital a week ago, but the Colonel didn't send him on another mission right away. He ordered the boy to take a while off, saying that he needed it. It annoyed the boy so much. He didn't have time for breaks. He had to get Al back to his body as soon as possible. He was so mad that he avoided Central Command like it was the plague.

Edward needed to get away from everything. From the memories. From the Colonel. From the military. From everything. He left his brother at his dorm and went out for a run outside in the rain, forgetting his red coat. He ran down the empty sidewalk. No one sane would be out in this weather, but right now, Edward wasn't thinking straight. He just needed to escape the pain of the memories and the military who owned his soul.

Breathing heavily, Edward slowed to a stop under a lamppost. He shook his wet bangs out of his face and stopped. The silver chain from his state alchemist watch jangled as he stopped. He was so used to the sound that he didn't even notice it anymore.

The young alchemist stood under the light of the lamppost, leaning against it. He looked up at the night sky, letting the rain slide down his face.

Was there anyone he could trust in the military? Anyone who would be there to help him when he needed it? Anyone?

"Kids shouldn't be wandering around alone at night. It's dangerous." An eerily voice whispered in the night air.

Edward stood up straight and looked around, squinting through the darkness. "Who's there?"

A man stepped under the light of the lamppost. His face was covered by the hood of his jacket. In his hand was a knife.

Why was he the one to always run into trouble?

Edward went to clap his hands, but the man threw his knife to stop him. The knife went through Ed's flesh hand, making him clench his teeth in pain. As he pulled the knife out, he heard the clink of a gun being pulled out and the safety being turned out.

"Stupid psychopaths." Edward growled to himself.

"Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric." The man whispered, pointing his gun at Ed's head.

Ed narrowed his eyes. "How do you know me?"

"It's your fault. Your fault." The man whispered.

Edward looked at him confused. "What is?"

"ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU BASTARD!" The man yelled, pulling the trigger.

Edward dropped to the ground as soon as he saw the trigger being pulled. The bullet whizzed past his head by mere inches. "What did I do to you?"

"It's all your fault that the city was destroyed. It's all your fault that my little brother is dead! Why did you enter the city? We were fine without the military's interference." The man shouted.

Edward looked up at the man with wide eyes. Of course the city being destroyed was his fault. All of it was his fault. He destroyed this man's life. He took away his little brother. Losing family was tough and we always liked to blame it on someone else.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" The boy shouted, raising his gun again.

Edward closed his eyes, waiting to accept the revenge that was coming to him. He deserved death. What else did he deserve? He ruined everybody's lives. This is what he gets. But when he closed his eyes, he saw his own little brother trapped in the suit of armor. His little brother's red eyes staring at him with as much sadness as a suit of armor can show. No, he couldn't die yet. He still had a promise to fulfill.

His eyes snapped open and he pushed himself to the side to avoid the bullet. The bullet hit his upper leg, but he ignored the pain from it. He pushed himself to his feet, raising the knife that the man threw at him.

"It's all your fault." The man cried.

Edward pushed himself forward with as much strength as he could muster up and knocked the gun out of his hand. He thrust his knife upward into the man's stomach, splattering them both in blood. The man screamed in pain and tackled Ed to the ground. The knife flew out of Ed's hand from the force of being tackled. They struggled on the ground, each trying to get the other off him. Eventually, Ed, who obviously had the most training and strength, kicked the man off of him. The man fell onto his back, right next to the gun. Quickly, he grabbed it and aimed it at Ed again, but the boy ducked into the alley. The man pushed himself up and walked shakily over to the alley, holding his stomach in pain.

When he entered the alley, he found Edward already ready with his automail arm turned into a blade. The automail blade came down quickly, slicing the gun in half. Angered, the man lunged forward, not thinking about the blade that Ed had. He lunged right into the blade.

Edward stared in shock at the man. The man's arms fell limply to his sides and his hood fell off his face. His eyes were red! Red eyes and brown skin! Oh, god, no! The man is an Ishvalan. What the hell were Ishvalans doing in that city? Oh, god, he killed Ishvalans! He was just like the rest of the state alchemists now!

The man's eyes stared in surprise at Ed. The life was slowly fading out of them. "Why? You killed him. Why?"

Breathing heavily and with wide eyes, Edward pulled his blade back and changed it back to normal as the man collapsed to the ground. The young alchemist fell to his knees next to him. He pushed his hands over the man's wounds. "Please, god, no. I'm sorry. Don't die."

The man didn't hear him. He was staring up at the stars. "Brother, I'm coming."

"No, don't die." Edward pleaded, pushing on the man's wounds, trying to stop the bleeding.

The man's eyes slowly slid shut. His eyes locked with Ed's for one second before they went completely blank. His breathing disappeared.

"No, please, no." Edward pleaded, tears filling up in his eyes. "I'm sorry, so sorry."

Edward stood up and slowly walked out of the alley. What did he just do? He just killed an innocent man. He just killed like the rest of the military dogs. Why? Why did he do that? He needed help! He just killed a man. What was he supposed to do?

The young state alchemist stumbled down the sidewalk, his blood and the Ishvalan's blood splattered all over him. His leg and hand were killing him, but that didn't matter. He needed help. He stumbled from the pain in his leg and fell into a puddle. Edward pushed himself up, crawling forward a little before pushing himself quickly to his feet and began running. But he stumbled a few feet later again from the bullet in his leg.

Edward stumbled forward, leaning against the buildings as help to move forward. He squinted forward. The rain around he began to lighten up as it slowed to a stop. He pushed himself forward some more. Where could he go for help? As he asked himself this, Colonel Mustang flashed in his mind. Why did his picture flash in his mind?

"Brother, why do you hate the Colonel so much? He always helps us. That's all he's ever done for us. He is always trying to help us." Al's voice said in Ed's mind. "You could at least give him a chance and see that he does care."

Edward pushed forward, heading towards Central Command with one thought in mind, 'Need Colonel. Need Colonel. Need Colonel.'

He killed someone. He killed someone. He killed someone. It should have been the other way around. He was the one who killed the Ishvalan's little brother. He wasn't supposed to walk away from that fight. It should have been the other way around!

"Need Colonel." Edward muttered. He tripped over his feet again and fell into the sidewalk. "Need Colonel." He pushed himself up and began stumbling forward again. "Need Colonel."

When he saw the lights of Central Command ahead, Edward quickened his speed, but soon tripped again after that. Coughing violently, Edward pushed himself up and went back to walking slowly towards it.

"Need Colonel." Edward muttered.

The young state alchemist stumbled through the doors of Central Command, shocking the receptionist. "Major Elric!" She shouted, jumping to her feet to assist the young boy.

But Edward wasn't listening to her. He stumbled down the hallway of Headquarters. He heard voices all around him, shouting out to him, but they weren't registering in his mind. All he knew was that he needed the Colonel.

"Brother, the Colonel is very trustworthy. He always helps us and has never told anyone about us. He'll never tell anyone our secret. Why do you hate him so much?" Al's voice asked.

The Colonel would help him. If Al said and thought it, then he was trustworthy. He would help him with this matter, wouldn't he?

At the front desk, the receptionist picked up her phone and dialed Major Elric's superior officer's number. "Colonel Mustang, sir."

"What is it?" He asked bored, tapping his fingers on the desk. He wanted to finish his paperwork soon so he could go out drinking and maybe pick up a woman or two.

"Major Elric just stumbled in here covered in blood. I tried to help him, but he just pushed past me. He's stumbling around Headquarters, sir." The receptionist explained.

That got the Colonel's attention. He said a quick good-bye and hung up. He pushed himself away from his desk and left his office.

Hawkeye looked up with narrowed eyes. "Have you finished your paperwork, sir?"

"Fullmetal is wandering around Headquarters covered in blood. I have to find him." Mustang replied quickly before leaving the office.

Frowning and with worry shining in her eyes, Hawkeye followed her boss. The rest of the subordinates watched them leave worried for their young superior. What had happened?

Mustang walked down the path that was the quickest way from his office to the entrance of Headquarters. He was sure that this was the path that Fullmetal normally took. Halfway through it, he found Hughes with a few other officers. Hughes had Fullmetal pushed against a wall, pinning the boy's wrists against the wall.

"Hughes." Mustang put a hand on Hughes's shoulders.

"Need Colonel." Edward whispered.

Hughes and Mustang shared a quick look. The major sighed. "He's disorientated and this isn't just his blood. I think most of it is the other guy's."

"Need Colonel." Edward tried to push Hughes off him.

"Maybe I should take over." Mustang whispered.

Hughes sighed. "Maybe you should. He won't talk to me or anyone and he's been asking for you ever since he stumbled in here."

Mustang nodded his head.

"He has two injuries. One in his hand and a bullet in his legs. Be careful." Hughes said.

Mustang kneeled next to Edward. "What's wrong?"

Edward stopped struggling when he heard the Colonel's voice. He looked at his superior for a second before bowing his head. "I'm sorry."

The Colonel looked taken aback. He quickly arranged his face into a blank expression and turned to his first lieutenant. "Hawkeye, go get the car. We need to take him to the hospital."

"Yes sir." Hawkeye replied quickly and left.

"Hughes, go tell my team to follow the blood trail to find where he came from, then go find Fullmetal's brother and get him to the hospital." Mustang ordered as he slipped his hands under Edward's armpits to pull him to his feet. He sent a glare out of the corner of his eyes at the other soldiers to get them to leave.

"I'm sorry." Edward whispered, leaning against his commander's front.

Mustang turned Edward around and pushed him forward so he would start walking. He kept one of his arms wrapped around the young boy's chest to keep him standing. It would be easier to carry the boy, but he knew that Ed would never let him be carried as long as he was conscious.

"If you just talk to him like a normal human being you'll see that he isn't a bad person and that he wants to help you." Al's voice said.

"Colonel, it was an accident. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." Edward mumbled quietly.

"What was an accident?" Mustang asked confused.

Edward stared at the ground as he was led out of Headquarters and to the car that Hawkeye had waiting for them. He felt himself led into the backseat. Someone wrapped their arms around his shoulders to keep him sitting up, then the car started moving.

"I didn't mean to. I was just surprised and scared."

Mustang jerked forward a little in shock. He looked at his subordinate in shock. What the hell was wrong with him? He would never admit to being scared. "Fullmetal, I can't help you if you don't tell me what you did."

Edward stared at his opened palms. One was bleeding profusely because of that knife that hit his hand earlier and the other was completely metal. "I…..I…k-k-k-killed him. I didn't mean to, I swear. It was an accident." He looked up at his commanding officer with wide, scared eyes that were pleading for forgiveness like a little kid who was looking at a parent after he did something wrong.

Mustang felt his arms slip off Ed's shoulders in shock. His eyes were slightly wide. He looked at Hawkeye in the driver's seat to see that her hands had tightened around the steering wheel so much that her knuckles were turning white. A fourteen year old boy had killed? What was the world coming to?

"I'm sorry. Don't be mad." Edward said quietly, looking back at his hands.

"Fullmetal," Mustang found his voice. "I need you to tell me what happened."

"I was walking down the sidewalk when he showed up. He was mad and upset. His brother died in that city when it was destroyed. He was mad. He said I killed his little brother and he was right." Edward covered his face with his metal hand to hide the tears that were filling up in his eyes.

"Were you the one to use the fake stone to cause the destruction of the city, Fullmetal?" Mustang growled.

Edward shook his head.

"Then how did you kill his brother?" Mustang asked forcibly.

Edward didn't reply.

"You didn't. It was that madman's fault, not yours." Mustang said.

Edward took a deep breath. "He was Ishvalan."

"What?" Mustang asked shocked.

"The man I killed was Ishvalan. I'm no better than the rest of the soldiers." Edward whispered. He stared out the window with wide, scared eyes.

Mustang glanced out the window to see signs of a fight that happened recently. He looked quickly back at his subordinate to see him still with the pleading eyes. "Hawkeye, stop the car!"

"But sir, he needs a hosp…."

"Now Lieutenant." Mustang ordered.

Hawkeye slammed her foot on the brake. All three soldiers were jerked forward violently, then slammed back into their seats when the car stopped.

"I didn't mean that you had to slam on the brakes." Mustang snapped as he rubbed his head.

"Well, why did we stop?" Hawkeye retorted.

Mustang didn't reply. He opened the car door and dragged Ed out with him. Hawkeye got out of the car and followed her superior back to fight area in confusion.

"Sir, maybe you should be careful. Edward's leg looks like it is really hurting with all this dragging him around." Hawkeye said worriedly as she watched Edward being pushed forward by Mustang. Blood was dripping down his flesh leg from the wound. The bullet wound was causing him to limp. She was surprised that he was able to walk all the way to Headquarters.

"He's fine." Mustang replied, ignoring the glare that that she sent him.

"What are we doing, sir?" Hawkeye asked with forced patience.

"Teaching." Mustang explained.

Blinking, Hawkeye came to a stop as she watched her superior's back moving away. Teaching? What could he be teaching at the scene of a fight with an injured child? Her brown eyes followed the steady, strong steps of Mustang and the stumbling, weak steps of Edward. Worry was hidden deep inside her eyes. She moved to outside the alley that Mustang pushed Edward into to listen to what they were saying. She wasn't an eavesdropper, all the time. But sometimes, her curiosity got the best of her and she eavesdropped like the others in their team.

Edward's eyes widened when he saw the alley that Mustang pushed him in to. He tried to back away to get out of the alley, but with Mustang standing behind with his hands on his shoulders he couldn't get anywhere. "Let me go! I said I was sorry. Please let me go!"

Mustang's hands tightened on Ed's shoulders. "You need to see to move on."

"I did see. I'm the one who killed him. Let me go." Edward screamed, trying to push the Colonel off him but with how much blood he lost and the pain running through his body, he didn't have the strength to get away.

Mustang kneeled on the ground and wrapped his arm around Ed's upper arms to keep them still. With his other hand under Ed's chin, the Colonel forced the boy to look at the body. "You can't hide from it, Fullmetal. It was an accident, but it happened. You can't change what happened and you can't keep apologizing for it. You can apologize all you want, but really, no one can forgive because they aren't part of this problem. The only one who can forgive you is yourself. It was an accident. He was attacking you. He was trying to kill you. It was self-defense. If you didn't act he would have killed you."

"I didn't want to kill him." Edward whispered, staring at the lifeless body of the Ishvalan.

"None of us do at first." Mustang replied. He let go of his subordinate and moved to sit next to him. "We join the military to protect our county and save lives. We realize that some day we might have to go to war and kill." He sighed and looked down at his gloved hands. "But we are ignorant fools. None of us think we'll go to war during our time in the military or we won't be sent out to the frontlines when war does take place. Every single soldier is ignorant at first and every single soldier has a first kill. All of us have to deal with our first kill at one time or another."

"H-How do we get passed it?" Edward asked hesitantly.

"First accept that you have killed which you have." Mustang replied, looking back at the lifeless body. "Accept who you killed. Everyone hates their first kill. It's painful. None of us want to kill. I killed Ishvalans in the Ishvalan Civil War, you know this. I made a promise to protect the people of my county, so why did I kill them?" Edward shook his head. "Because I was ordered to. I never wanted to kill them. They were a part of our county."

Edward took a shuddering breath. "So, how do we move passed it?"

"Having a friend there to knock sense into you is helpful." Mustang replied. His subordinate looked at him with questioning, curious eyes. "Maes was there for me. He made me see sense. He made it through the war by saying that he would survive and come back home to Gracia. He said that when he saw her he would put a fake smile on and bear the burdens of what happened in the war on his own. It's not just him that does that. All soldiers have to bear the burden of what they do as soldiers. We all have that raging war in us."

"And this war? What is it?" Edward asked quietly.

Mustang looked up at the night sky. "A battle of emotions. We have to fight pass the depression that we sink into after that hell. The mass killing slowly kills us. To see all that…our alchemy which was supposed to be used to help our county was being used to kill people from our own county. War is hell and it starts a war in our hearts. We fall into a depression, but with loyal friends we can make it passed that, but the war still rages after that. The war will never end. We'll never forget the people kill. We still see them, even after all the years that have passed. I'll always regret what I had to do in that war. But we can't move forward if we don't forgive ourselves for what we did. Others may not forgive us for what we did. How can they? They don't know what it was like in that war. They don't know what we had to see or what we were ordered to do. They don't know about all the regret we feel. They only see and hear what they want to. They need someone to blame. But we do regret what we did and we really wish we could fix what we did. I blame myself all the time when I think of the war, but I shouldn't. I know I shouldn't. I just can't help it. We'll never forget the way we felt in that war."

Edward looked up at his commanding eyes with dead eyes.

"What's your reason for living, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked.

"I live for Al. I will fix his body and do everything I can to keep him happy." Edward said without any hesitation.

Mustang nodded his head, already knowing that to be the answer. "So will you let yourself fall because of one kill? Falling like this won't help you fix Al and it will make him sad to see his brother like this."

"We all kill at some point in our life, whether we know it or not." Hawkeye said from behind them as she entered the alley. "And we all continue forward in life with friends and family by us."

Edward turned his face away from his comrades and rubbed furiously at his eyes with his automail hand. "Can….can you not tell Al that I killed?" He asked in a raspy voice.

"Of course. We all have to carry our own burdens." Hawkeye replied. "Now, we should get to the hospital. The investigation squad will be here soon to clean this up."

"Who said you could give orders?" Mustang replied, amusement hidden deeply in his voice and eyes. Only those who really knew him would be able to detect it.

Hawkeye rolled her eyes and left the alley to go back to the car. Mustang looked at the young state alchemist to see him staring at the body. Knowing that the kid needed a few minutes alone, Mustang left the alley.

Edward crawled over to the dead body and looked down at it. The lifeless red eyes of the Ishvalan almost made him draw back. Ever since the war in Ishval he has been afraid of Ishvalan. The red eyes are what really scared him. All he's ever heard was bad things about them, but now. Now he realizes that you can't believe what everyone else says. You have to make your own opinions, not listen to someone else's.

"I'm sorry for killing you. I didn't know you would be stupid enough to jump into my blade. I should really be more careful with it. I never wanted you dead. You were just upset because you lost your brother. I have a little brother too so I know the pain you were going through. I almost lost my brother and that was my fault to. I'm sorry about your brother and you, but at least you two can be together now wherever you are." Edward whispered. He stole a quick glance at the exit to the alley before looking back at the Ishvalan. "I am sorry that I killed you, but…..but I have to move on. I have a little brother to take care of and my own life to live. I'm not going to let your death stop me from fulfilling my goals, but I am sorry."

The young alchemist reached forward with two fingers. He rested them above the Ishvalan's eyes. "Ishvalan are religious and probably give some sort of prayer or something to their people when they die. Sorry, but I'm not religious so I can't say anything like that to you." He closed the Ishvalan's eyes.

Putting all his weight on his automail leg, Edward pushed himself to his feet. He used the wall as leverage to walk out of the alley.

The Colonel was leaning against the wall with crossed arms when his subordinate walked out of the alley. "Done, Fullmetal?"

Edward nodded his head.

"Then let's go." Mustang wrapped an arm around Edward's shoulders and helped him to the car.

Mustang watched his subordinate sleep in his hospital room after his surgery. In the corner of the room sat a big suit of armor. The Colonel sat leaning back in a chair next to the bed with crossed arms. Hawkeye and Hughes left a while ago. Mustang stayed because he wanted to be here when Ed woke up to make sure he was really better after his first kill. Since Al didn't know and has never killed himself he couldn't help his brother.

Edward was still sleeping from the sedatives that he was given before his surgery. His breathing was steady and soft. Bandages were wrapped thickly around his left hand. His leg was sewn shut with bandages wrapped around it. Golden hair freely flowed down his back.

The younger brother looked at his brother's sleeping form then to the Colonel, who was still watching his brother sleep. After doing it for years, Al was used to sitting around, waiting for his brother to wake up. He did it every single night, but the Colonel never did that.

"Colonel, sir?"

Al's quiet, soft voice made Mustang jump a little in surprise. He had forgotten that Alphonse was there because he was so deep in thought. They had been there for hours waiting for Ed to wake up. He turned in his seat to look at Al. "Yes, Alphonse?"

"How can you stand just waiting here for brother to wake up? I do it all the time so I'm used to waiting, but how can you stand it? Surely you have better things to do." Al replied, glowing red eyes shining with as much curiosity a suit of armor could muster up.

Mustang turned back around to his subordinate and looked down at him. "I'm used to sitting at bedsides. I don't do it every day like you, but I do it enough. It comes with being a military man. I always wait for my subordinates and friends to wake up when they are hurt. This is what I do. I'll never leave their sides, not until they wake up. It's my responsibility to watch over them."

Al mentally sighed. His brother always complained about the Colonel being a bastard and always being in their business. The Colonel really cared for them. He just wished his brother would see the good side of the Colonel. If he did he might not always fight with him.

Mustang looked back at Al briefly then looked back at Ed. "I do care, but I'm a military man. I can't show it. You can't show any emotion in the military. If you do you will have people walking all over you, trying to take advantage over you because you care."

"I understand, Colonel. Brother will never see it. He doesn't want to. I guess he just channels all his anger and frustration from our quest at you." Al said quietly.

"And I allow him that. It helps him. I know it does. Don't ever tell him that, kay, Al?" Mustang asked with a smirk.

"Why?" Al asked confused.

Mustang sighed. "If he knew that I let him take his anger out on me because I know it helps him, he might not take my threats of court marshaling him seriously."

"I understand, sir. You need something to control him with and by giving threats like that it will keep him from making irrational decisions all the time. I know that he doesn't always listen or think rationally. It's good to have something over him to get him to stop." Al replied.

Mustang raised a brow in shock. He knew the secret message in Al's word. It was saying that he used different techniques to get his brother to stop and think whenever he thought his brother was rushing into something too fast.

"He won't say it, but I know he respects you, sir." Al added.

Mustang nodded his head and looked back down at Edward. In appearance, he noted, the two looked nothing alike, but in personality they were similar. They were both alchemists, state alchemists even. Both were stubborn to a fault and protective, even if they wouldn't admit it. Mustang will protect everyone below him and Edward will do all in his power to protect his brother and friends. They have both done things they will regret forever. Every time they saw each other they would fight. That's all they ever did. It seemed to everyone that they hated each other.

Those people didn't understand the respect that the two shared. Hatred was all they saw, but they didn't really hate each other. The two state alchemists respected each other. The skills of the other were impressive. They would never say it out loud. It was a mutual, unspoken agreement that they would never let anyone know of their respect for the other or that they didn't hate each other. It was a shield to protect themselves so no one could use the other against them. For two years this shield has stayed and Mustang planned to make sure it was always there.

Mustang liked the kid. He enjoyed the arguments with Fullmetal. They made the day more interesting. It was a good way to get rid of the stress of the day. Despite that, he did feel protective of the kid and would keep him safe from everything that he could. With Fullmetal going on missions all the time it was hard to watch over him, but he would protect the kid when he was around, especially from all those in the military that could hurt him. He would not let Fullmetal become a mindless dog like the rest of the soldiers. The military would not take away what was left of the kid's childhood.

**A/N: Please Review!**


	8. Story 8: Would you?

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist

Thanks for the reviews!

**Full Metal Alchemist: Stories of Central**

**Edward: 15**

**Alphonse: 14**

"Talking"

_Thought_

**One shot #8: Would you?**

_You said you wouldn't. _

Mustang sat leaning back in his seat with interlaced fingers. His charcoal black eyes were staring at the small boy with hidden worry. It was not his job to be concerned for the boy. As a military man he could not show that he cared for anyone. By doing so he would put that person in a lot of trouble. Hiding that one cared about someone in the military was their way to protect them.

The fact that Mustang did care and wanted to help the boy in front of him was really hidden. He and the boy always argued and yelled at each other. They constantly fought about everything from milk to missions to his height. Even the most pointless subjects sent them into a fight. No one could possibly guess that they respected each other and that Mustang did, in fact, care for the kid. Only those really close to them could realize that. But as an unofficial, unspoken rule, none of them spoke of it.

"Fullmetal, I have a question for you." Mustang said.

The boy looked at his commander in irritation. "Well, what is it? I just want to leave already."

"Your patience is as short as your height I see." Mustang replied nonchalantly.

Ed's eye twitched. "I'M NOT SHORT, YOU BASTARD!"

"I never said you were, Fullmetal." Mustang said blandly.

Huffing, Ed crossed his arms and glared at the wall. "So?"

"It is the duty of a lower rank officer to protect his or her superior officer no matter what. Some would even say that it is their duty to die for their superior." Mustang explained, calmly looking at Edward.

Edward raised an annoyed brow at him.

"Would you die for me?" Mustang asked seriously.

"Die for you?" Edward asked angrily. He stood up, stomped over to Mustang's desk, and slammed his hands on them, making two different loud sounds. "Die for you? What the hell would I gain from that? What the hell have you ever done for me that would make me want to die for you? I have no reason to give my life up for a bastard like you. Never in a million years would I die for a manipulative bastard with a god complex. I will never die for anyone in the military. The higher ups should protect those below them, not the other way around. Never will I die for my superiors or anyone. I would only die for Al." With that said Ed spun on his heels and stormed out of the office.

Since he was so mad, Edward didn't notice the relief shining in Mustang's eyes before he stormed out.

Relief that his subordinate was not going to do anything stupid for him. He would live. He wouldn't sacrifice anything for his superior. That was all Mustang wanted. Mustang wanted the reassurance that Edward would live. That he would continue on in life and not risk anything for those he didn't think deserved it. He agreed completely with Ed. Higher ups should be protecting those below them, not the other way around.

_What were you thinking?_

"Remembrance Day?" Ed looked up at Mustang in confusion. "What's that?"

"It's a day to remember all our comrades that were lost in Ishval. It is celebrated on May twenty-eighth." Mustang said.

Ed blinked and tilted his head. "I don't understand. Why do you want to remember everyone that you lost in Ishval? It just seems painful to want to remember then. Remembering all your fallen friends."

Mustang frowned thoughtfully. He got up from his chair and moved over to the couch. Sitting down from across Ed, Mustang leaned forward and looked his subordinate in the eyes. "Ful…no, Edward, we remember because we want to honor our fallen friends. Honor them for what they died for."

"What did they die for?" Ed asked curiously.

"For their friends, family, their country." Mustang replied.

"I don't understand." Ed replied, looking at the ground. "I understand about sacrificing for people you care about. I did that for Al, for Winry, for all that I really care about. I don't understand why you want to remember it, even if it is to honor them….Mustang….what was war like? Maybe…..maybe that might help me understand."

Mustang looked at Ed with calculating eyes, as if trying to see into his soul to see why he wanted to know this. Did he want to know just to know what war was like? Did he want to know so he could understand Remembrance Day better? Or was he just humoring him to mock him about it? When Ed raised his head to look at Mustang all those questions left him. Ed's eyes showed that he wanted to know, to truly understand the lost and hopelessness of war. He needed to know how bad it was.

"War….it is a terrible place. I hope I never have to send you there, Ed." Mustang said slowly, as if unsure of whether or not he should be saying this to him. "We were ordered to exterminate every Ishvalan we saw, whether they were kids or adults, fighters or not. Every single one had to go. Most of us didn't understand why. We had sleepless nights. We had to teach our bodies to be able to run on only a few hours a sleep a week. All our food was rationed and we only ate two meals a day. We grew extremely paranoid and watchful. We were scared. We didn't want to die."

"Every day we had to go out and fight. Sometimes the fights would last just an hour or two. Other times the battles last well into the night. We were so paranoid. At night some of our comrades would stay up a few hours to protect us while we rested. We took turns in playing guard. We had to last the day of fighting on those few hours of sleep we got. Battle after battle in the trenches. Death after death. In war it is either kill or be killed. If you want to make it out of war you have to fire. There is no time to stop and think about what we are doing. If you paused to think, you died! That lesson was learned quickly by the soldiers new to war."

"It was horrible. We were fighting in the trenches. One moment your friend was next to you, firing round after round at the enemy. The next he had a bullet in his head. He's gone and there is nothing you can do about. Do you have any idea of what it is like to watch one of your comrades, someone that you sat around the fire with sharing whisky and watching over while he slept, was shot and you weren't? Why should you get to continue living while your friend has to die? You are running through trenches, trying to escape the enemy, and the comrade next to you is shot."

"War is horrible."

"Watching your friends die and you still live, the guilt eats at you each and every day. It hurts so much to see your friends get killed, one after another. You feel so lost and confused. But you can't let yourself fall to those feelings because you know if you do you will die next. War is not a place to feel guilty."

Edward looked up from the floor at Mustang, whose eyes were distant and filled with pain, with hollow eyes. "So….because you couldn't feel the pain then….you feel it now on Remembrance Day as you honor how they gave up their lives to protect their friends, family, comrades, and this country…..It is this time that you remember all who died,…died for all of us."

Mustang solemnly nodded his head. "Every year the military has a ceremony in Central for them. You are usually off on a mission so you missed it the last three years."

"So, we are going to Central for it?" Ed asked.

Mustang nodded his head.

Ed looked at his commander for a few minutes in silence before looking out the window. "Colonel."

In those few moments of silence the Colonel had gotten control of his emotions so with his usual calm, commanding tone said, "Yes Fullmetal?"

"Can…Can I have a uniform?" Ed asked.

Mustang felt himself stare in shock at his subordinate. "I thought you refused to wear it."

"Don't get me wrong. I hate the military and the uniforms, but…..I want to honor the ones who died in the war so I will wear the uniform for the ceremony, but only then." Edward replied hesitantly as if he wasn't sure he wanted to do this.

Mustang smiled in pride of his young reckless subordinate's reply. Maybe he was finally growing up.

_Why do I always have to watch my comrades…my friends get hurt? I'm supposed to protect him, not the other way around. _

Al finished helping his brother with the stars on his uniform and stepped back to examine his brother. He had never seen his brother in a uniform. He never actually expected to see his brother in the uniform.

"I feel like an idiot." Ed said as he tugged at his collar.

"You shouldn't. You actually look good in the uniform." Al commented, knocking his brother's hand away from the collar so he could straighten it. "Stop messing it up."

"I can't help it. It's so stiff. No wonder soldiers stand straight all the time. There is no room to be moving around. I wonder how they get in the position to fire a gun in these things." Ed growled, trying to pull at his collar again but Al knocked his hand away again.

"Where did the Colonel get your uniform anyway?" Al asked.

"He got me the…." Ed twitched. "Smallest size possible then we went to a tailor."

If he had a body, Al would have smiled at his brother obvious internal rant he was having about the word small. It was obvious he was ranting to himself because of the anger on his face.

"Here's your sash." Al handed the black sash to his brother. Mustang had said that they were to wear a black sash in the honor of the lost soldiers. It was customary to wear black to a funeral and that is what this ceremony was like.

_It should have been me. It was supposed to be me! Fullmetal, you idiot!_

As he walked down the hallway of the military headquarters Ed felt many shocked faces turn to him. Was it really that strange that he was wearing a uniform?

Most likely it was since it was no secret that he hated the military.

As soon as he entered the mess hall a hand landed on Ed's shoulder and spun him around before the boy could even think.

"Ed? Is that really you?" Hughes said shocked, but with a big smile. "You're wearing a uniform. I never thought I would see the day."

Ed slapped Hughes's hand away. "It really is strange then."

Hughes looked at Ed's sash. "It's because it is Remembrance Day. Honestly Ed, I didn't think you would wear it even for this day."

Ed shrugged. "I talked to Mustang. I asked him about the war and felt that I should wear it."

The smile slid off Hughes's face. "War. He really shouldn't have told you about that."

"It's not like I had to live through it." Ed pointed out. "I just wanted to know what war was like so I could understand the point of this day."

"You know, a uniform changes a person in more than one way." Hughes said.

Ed looked back at him confused. "How so?"

"For one, you look more like an adult when dressed in it, Ed. With your normal clothes you just look like the hot-tempered brat that you are." Hughes said, stepping to the side to avoid the punch aimed at him. "Secondly, a uniform also makes one act differently."

"I'm not any different." Ed retorted.

"You think that now." Hughes replied sadly. "But everyone changes when they put the military uniform on."

_You said you wouldn't die for me or anyone, except Alphonse. I'm not Alphonse, you stupid kid!_

Edward stood off the side on the parade ground, watching the ceremony. He was fidgeting slightly. The ceremony had been going on for hours with speeches from the Fuhrer and generals. Mustang was going to give a speech so he told Ed. He was the hero of Ishval and wanted to talk, talk about the comrades he lost and honor them. All the higher ups got to sit at chairs in front of the stage. The lower rank soldiers got to stand to the side of the parade ground. The civilians who got into the ceremony stood in the back, watching it. The civilians were mostly people who lost someone in the war.

General Grumman finished his speech and announced that Mustang was coming up next to give a speech. Grumman got off the stage as Mustang stood up from one of the chairs and marched up to the stage with head held high.

The young state alchemist looked out into the crowd of civilians and soldiers as Mustang began his speech. He spotted Al standing in the crowd and let a small smile spread over his lips. Al noticed him looking and waved. Ed grinned at him. Standing next to Al was Gracia and little Elysia, who was tugging at Al's other hand.

"The war in Ishval was horrible. All of us there saw so many horrible things. It's nothing that we want to relive. I was there as you all know. I watched my comrades fall all around me…."

_You're just a kid. I don't want a kid dying for me. _

"There were many great soldiers in the war. They all knew what they were there for. All of them were ready to give up their lives for this country and so many did…"

Movement in the crowd caught Ed's eyes. Someone wearing a military uniform was moving through the crowd. Tensely, Ed uncrossed his arms and stood up straight. His eyes followed each step the man took. He was slowly making his way through the crowd. As the man disappeared behind some people in the crowd Ed felt his jaw clench.

"In war your comrades become your friends, the only ones you can trust. They are the ones that are true heroes. The ones that die for this country are the true heroes….."

_Sometimes I wonder, what kills a dog?_

Something wasn't right here.

The man reappeared at the edge of the crowd of civilians. He reached the group of soldiers on the other side of the field and started weaving between them. The man stopped at the edge of the crowd. No one paid him any mind. Was he just late to the ceremony? He could be, but that didn't feel right to Ed.

"I regret not being able to save my comrades in the war. Each of them deserved to live…."

_What do you think, Fullmetal?_

Nervously, Ed licked his dry lips as he watched the man next to the stage move again to behind the stage. Suspicious of what was going on with him, Ed moved closer to the stage. He felt Hughes and Hawkeye shift when he moved. Their eyes were on his back, probably holding the question of what he was doing, but he didn't notice those eyes. He only had eyes for that man.

Clicking shoes were behind Ed. Someone was following him, but still he did not turn around. He was afraid that if he did the man would move and he would miss it. He couldn't lose track of him.

_Is it loyalty?_

Ed stopped next to the stage. The man was standing behind the stage, looking at Mustang with hate filled eyes. If he hated Mustang why did he move so close to the stage?

The young alchemist took a sharp intake of breath when he saw the man pull his gun out of his holster. He wasn't going to…

_Foolishness?_

No one else noticed. They were all still watching Mustang.

There was no time. No time for a warning. No time to think.

"_In war it is either kill or be killed. There is no time to think about what we are doing."_

Ed's legs felt like they were moving of their own accord. He jumped onto the stage. As he jumped he felt fingers brush his back as if trying to grab him to stop him. The fingers couldn't grab him though. The stiff uniform didn't give them anything to grab. He ignored the harsh whisper of, "_Edward._" It was Hawkeye. She had followed him.

Ed didn't stop. There was no time.

_Devotion? _

The young alchemist ran over to his commander, who looked at him in surprise and anger. He opened his mouth to scold him for interrupting but before he could a shot rang out through the ground. Just as the shot sounded Ed tackled Mustang around the waist.

Both fell to the ground.

Blood splattered the ground next to them.

Cries of shock. Cries of fear. Cries of anger. All of them sounded.

Feet slammed on the ground as the higher ups stood up. Metal clinking followed.

Hawkeye immediately moved into the action at the sound of the gun. She pulled her gun out and jumped onto the stage.

Mustang sat up, rolling the young alchemist off him. He brought a hand to his face. When he removed it his glove was covered in blood. He looked down at his subordinate. Blood pooled around him. It soaked his hair and clothes.

Edward pushed Mustang's hand off of him and sat up.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mustang growled, grabbing Ed's shoulder. "You were just shot. You can't be…."

Ed slapped Mustang's hand away. He pushed himself to his feet, stumbling forward slightly as he did. Once he got his balance back, he put a hand on his side where he got hurt, and jumped off the stage.

"Damn it." Mustang growled, climbing to his feet as well.

"What is going on?" Hawkeye asked.

_Ignorance? _

Ed stumbled down the stage and looked around for the man. He saw the man moving through the soldiers, using all the chaos to escape. No, he couldn't let him escape. The young alchemist only made it a few steps before black dots flashed in front of his eyes. His legs buckled under him. He collapsed on his side. He watched the man who shot him weave through the soldiers as his eyes slowly slid shut.

_Gullibility?_

"Sir?" Hawkeye asked as Mustang jumped off the stage and ran to the fallen Ed.

Mustang ignored her and put a hand to Ed's neck. A small beat met his hand, but it was very weak. "Get a car now!"

Hughes and Al ran up to him as Hawkeye left.

"Is my brother okay?" Al asked.

Mustang refused to look at Al. He couldn't say when he himself didn't know. "What happened?"

"We don't know. I think Ed saw something because he was moving towards the stage, then out of the blue he jumped onto it. Hawkeye and I tried to stop him." Hughes replied, voice deathly quiet.

"Damn it." Mustang swore. He looked over at the soldiers and civilians. The civilians were staring in horror at what happened. Their hero, the hero of the people, was shot. He wasn't moving. The soldiers were moving around. Some were ushering the shocked civilians off the premises. Others had their guns out and were looking around for where the shot came from. Others were guarding the Fuhrer. It was pure chaos.

Mustang looked back at Ed. He brushed the boy's bangs out of his face. His eyes were shut. His breathing was labored and uneven. Sweat covered his face.

_Recklessness?_

Mustang pushed his hands on Ed's side where the bullet had hit him. As soon as he put pressure on Ed's wound the boy took a sharp intake of breath.

"Here," Hughes handed his military jacket to Mustang.

Mustang took the jacket and pressed it onto Ed's wound. "Hughes, your daughter is here. She just saw someone she loves get shot. Go to her. I'll take care of this."

Hughes looked out into the crowd. His wife was carrying a crying Elysia off the premises. He nodded his head. "I'll be back soon." He yelled over his shoulder.

"My brother!" Al cried sorrowfully. Both he and Mustang knew that even though he didn't have a body, Al's soul was crying. "My brother."

_Stupidty?_

Mustang paced around the waiting room. His uniform was unkempt and covered in blood. Ever since Ed was shot and they arrived at the hospital he has stayed here. He was not leaving this place until he knew for sure that his subordinate, his comrade,…..his friend was safe.

_What does kill a dog, Fullmetal?_

"Who is here for Edward Elric?" A doctor asked when he came into the waiting room.

Al, Mustang, Hawkeye, Havoc, and Hughes all turned to the doctor. "We are." Mustang said.

The doctor nodded his head. "The bullet hit the side of his liver. We were able to remove it and fix his liver. He is stable at the moment."

Each member of the group let out the breaths they didn't realize they were holding.

"Can I visit him?" Mustang asked or more like demanded.

"Right now he is still asleep." The doctor replied, not at all bothered by Mustang's tone. "You may go into his room, but be quiet."

Mustang nodded his head. "Thank you, doctor."

The Colonel looked at the tall suit of armor. "Al, you don't mind if I go in alone, do you?"

If he could have, Al would have looked shock. He'll just have to settle for putting shock in his voice. "Not at all, Colonel. It's completely understandable that you would want to see him."

Nodding his head in thanks, Mustang left and followed the doctor to Ed's room. The doctor left as soon as Mustang pushed the door opened, knowing that the man wanted to be alone with his subordinate for a while.

Lying on the bed was Edward. His white blanket was lying over his legs. His chest, which was empty of a shirt, was covered in bandages. Tubes, needles, and wires from all types of machines were connected to the young boy. Ed's eyes were scrunched shut, most likely from the pain he was in. The morphine probably wasn't helping much. His flesh hand was clutching the bed sheets in his hand.

Walking over to the bed, Mustang grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to Ed's shoulders. He looked cold with goose bumps covering his arm. After making sure that Ed was comfortable, Mustang pulled a chair over and sat next to the bed. He rested his elbows on his legs and folded his hands over each other.

"Stupid kid, what were you thinking? Why did you do that? You hate me so why did you risk your life to save me? Why, you stupid brat? It's my job to watch out for you, not the opposite way. You stupid, stupid kid." Mustang said loudly. He lowered his voice. "You were the only one to see this man. How did you know that he was no good? No one else saw anyone out of place. You were the only one. Why didn't you just yell a warning or attack the man? Why did you have to protect me? You're not supposed to die."

A hand came up and grabbed the sleeve of Mustang's jacket. Mustang looked up at Ed's face in surprise to see the boy glaring at him with a frown. "I told you before, bastard. I'm won't die for you."

The Colonel stared in shock at Edward for a moment before he laughed. Of course, now he understood. The kid was too stubborn to die for him. His stubbornness wouldn't let him die for him. By that stubbornness, Edward knew that he wouldn't die when he jumped in front of that bullet for him. This kid was something else...

_In the end, Fullmetal, I think it is all those that will kill a dog one day, loyalty, foolishness, devotion, ignorance, gullibility, recklessness, and stupidity. It is up to the dog's owner though to make sure that his pup doesn't die on him. It is the dog's owner's job to make sure his pup lives a long life. _

**A/N: Please Review! **


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